Hunger Games: Resurrection Resurrection
by LadyCordeliaStuart
Summary: In honor of the fact that most of these Tributes probably will have played at least three times.
1. Chapter 1

**Sometimes I do Resurrection Games.**

 **Sometimes I do voting Games.**

 **You know where this is going.**

 **VOTING RESURRECTION GAMES!**

 **YOU pick the Tributes! YOU pick when they die! YOU pick the Victor! The only thing you don't pick is the Arena, since I try to make them all fit a Resurrection theme and have a cool idea.**

 **As usual, there is NO limit to how many Tributes this Games can have. Want to send someone in? You can send:**

 **Someone who died in one of my past Games (yours or someone else's, though if the original submitter actively declines I'll remove the character. This has happened like twice)**

 **Someone who died in some other writer's story**

 **Someone who WON someone else's story (hey why not, I'll take it. It would be a little weird though...)**

 **Someone who was in a story that got abandoned, deleted, shortened, or discontinued**

 **But what if you want to have a character in the Games and haven't made any Tributes? Do not worry! For exactly this circumstance, I allow original submissions. I plead with you to only send one, since I'm almost certainly going to have more than 100 Tributes, but it's okay if you had a pair or set in mind.**

 **There's not really a form this time, what with the mostly recycled Tributes. I have almost every Tribute from my stories' forms in a huge file, but you can add if you want them to behave differently or to have learned something or whatever. Resurrection Games use cloning technology, and if the creator requests, this technology sometimes goes bad and weird stuff can happen. If you make a new Tribute, you can either use whatever form you like or I can make one if you want.**

 **Remember, nominate as many Tributes as you want!**

 **So don't worry about reservations, since there are INFINITE SLOTS! Since this is already crazy, I also go totally crazy and allow additions right up to the Bloodbath chapter. If you're late, that's okay, I'll add you in anyway!**

 **Let the floodgates open.**

* * *

Titian Qin

 _Oh, no._

They want another Resurrection Games. I _do_ enjoy seeing three times as many people die, but those are so much _work._ Bigger Arenas, bigger mutts, so much logistics. If I did any of that stuff, I'd be really mad. Luckily I just do the fun stuff. But why would they want another Resurrection Games when they could have another Survivor Games? Or that other project I've been working on...


	2. List

**A lot of people want a list of living Tributes, which is a great idea, since I have them written down in three different places and still get lost. Amphilia's POV at the bottom is for rules and it doesn't count to her POV total since I made it super short. It's just a bonus to talk about yummy Career food.**

 **District One: Ded LOL**

 **District Two: Ember and Jessie**

 **District Three: Shinju Gidget**

 **District Four: Amphilia Patrick**

 **District Five:** **Sammy Voltage Kerry Selmosa Ally Tesla**

 **District Six: Volvo**

 **District Seven: Violet Des**

 **District Eight: Zibby**

 **District Nine: Jeanie Clay Lyann**

 **District Ten: Ded LOL**

 **District Eleven: Daria**

 **District Twelve: Ded LOL**

 **Wow, so many Ones submitted and so few Sevens and Tens. That's funny, since Seven is always popular.**

* * *

Amphilia Fortune- District Four female

"This is so much food."

After looting the Cornucopia between the two packs (and losing some to Priscilla's alliance), we had a ton of food.

"Check out these things," Gloria said, holding a fat metal tube. She twisted it open and a blast of cold air came out. She reached in and pulled out a smaller plastic container.

"Is it containers all the way down?" Cierra asked.

"No, it's just to keep the food cool so it won't spoil," Gloria said. She opened the plastic container and revealed a rich golden glob full of chunks of meat and vegetables. She plopped the congealed mess into a skillet and held it over our camping stove.

"Oh my goodness, that smells amazing," I said as the scent of strange spices filled the air. They were so spicy I could almost smell the colors of the food.

"Ladies, I have the best idea," Karyssa said. We had a stack of flat breads at the bottom of the stove so they would get soft. She picked one up and scooped some goop out.

"This... is... awesome," she said. I scooped up some goop on my own slice. She was so right.

* * *

 **You can update your votes whenever, whether it's after a new chapter or in later if you change your mind. If no one dies in a chapter, I anticipate most votes will stay the same.**


	3. Incomplete List

**Here's what I have so far! There is no limit on Tributes, but don't worry. There will be a massive Bloodbath to take care of the numbers.**

 **NOTE: I will eventually add the Districts. I just got bored of all this writing XD.**

 **I've started organizing them, but this is a long haul! I will almost certainly put someone in the wrong District, especially Eight and Nine, so don't hesitate to correct it.**

 **As you can see, this is still in-progress. I won't be moving forward until I get everything correct, and I definitely do have a plan to make sure this doesn't get overly bloated...**

* * *

 **Resubmitted from my stories:**

District One:

 **Onyx Soul (Into Thin Air)**

 **Valerie Lenn (We All Fall Down)**

 **Jason Lenn (Into Thin Air)**

 **Ruby Lalonde (Survivor)**

 **Jayden Chadsey (Child's Play)**

 **Charming Goodwin (Survivor)* he's alive but his submitter asked so I thought why not? He re-volunteered, I guess.**

 **Priscilla Piscot (Over and Over)**

 **Miall Piscot (All-Stars Careers)**

 **Karyssa Evans (We All Fall Down)**

 **Fable Anders (A Night to Remember)**

District Two:

 **Tuesday Erelle (Into Thin Air)**

 **Troy Cahill (Back to Normal)**

 **Daren Gerard (A Night to Remember)**

 **Ember Steiner (Child's Play)**

 **Cierra Daline (Back to Normal)**

 **Theo Kasius (We All Fall Down)**

 **Jessie Cabello (A Night To Remember)**

 **Chrome Cabello (Heart of Darkness)**

 **Akari Igneous (All-Stars Careers)**

District Three:

 **Shinju Matsushita (Heart of Darkness)**

 **Gidget Ford (Into Thin Air)**

 **Lisette Crowley (Child's Play)**

 **Electra Magnato (We All Fall Down)**

 **Sparkil Mclein (Survivor)**

 **Demarcus King (We All Fall Down)**

 **Tatsuya Hikaru (A Night To Remember)**

 **Emmeline Blythe (Your Vote Matters)**

 **Gizmo Torrens (Power to the People)**

 **Jayla Dean (A Night to Remember)**

District Four:

 **Reefe Mordecai (Survivor)**

 **Daisy Stem (All-Stars The Killer Elite) Daisy was a late addition by my little sister and since she was my sister's I didn't write an intro.**

 **Erin Lindell (Heart of Darkness?)**

 **Amphilia Fortuna (A Night to Remember)**

 **Marley Xander (Back to Normal)**

 **Dath Zachariah (Your Vote Matters)**

 **Arielle Ermin (28th Games)**

 **Whyte Roberts (Over and Over)**

 **Patrick Donegal (A Night to Remember)**

 **Floki Grimm (Power to the People)**

District Five:

 **Daniel Mondins (24 Years 24 Tributes)**

 **Sarla Mondins (24 Years 24 Tributes)**

 **Sita Alaya (Into Thin Air)**

 **Scott Sharpe (Child's Play)**

 **Sammy Voltage (Survivor)**

 **Kerry Selmosa (We All Fall Down)**

 **Ally Tesla (Heart of Darkness)**

 **Cain Pander (Survivor)**

 **Totem Sweeney (A Night to Remember)**

District Six:

 **Nairobi Ellis (Your Vote Matters)**

 **Volvo Courvaile (Child's Play)**

 **Hemi Sergius (Child's Play)**

 **Ferrari Benz (Into Thin Air)**

 **Sofia Ferrari (A Night to Remember)**

 **Velvet Tek (Back to Normal)**

District Seven:

 **Ever Fellows (24 Years 24 Tributes)**

 **May Wilda (Child's Play)**

 **Jasmine Ashenvale (A Night to Remember)**

 **Violet Robbins (Into thin Air)**

 **Desiree Redwood (We All Fall Down)**

 **Jodie Jackson (Heart of Darkness)**

District Eight:

 **Martha Lewis (Into Thin Air)**

 **Brenna Segale (Heart of Darkness?)**

 **Eddin Cavitch (Into Thin Air?)**

 **Alayza Mont (24 Years 24 Tributes)**

 **Cavendar Jones? (Heart of Darkness)**

 **Blaise Wesley (We All Fall Down?)**

 **Ryker Merlin (Over and Over)**

 **Haber Dasher (Power to the People)**

 **Silver Flower (Power to the People)**

 **Zibby Spooley (A Night to Remember)**

 **Jake Diaz (All-Stars Redux)**

District Nine:

 **Miller Thresher (24 Years, 24 Tributes)**

 **Jeanie Clay (Heart of Darkness)**

 **Tariq Bluegrass (Back to Normal)**

 **Cooper Woodson (All-Stars Redux)**

District Ten:

 **Philip Kozlov (A Night to Remember)**

 **Mati Berlin (Child's Play)**

 **Gael Orford (Survivor)**

 **Ethel Bulhera (Heart of Darkness)**

 **Orland Corrado (I forgot)**

District Eleven:

 **Potato Springfield (Survivor)**

 **Soya Tores (Survivor)**

 **Olivier Fowler (Back to Normal)**

 **Vextrix Webb (We All Fall Down)**

 **Hoban Tam (We All Fall Down)**

 **Zinnia Fraser (We All Fall Down)**

 **Anise Haefelle (Back to Normal)**

 **Zach Connouis (Hunger Games All-Stars)**

 **Jay Dallas (Over and Over)**

 **Austin Dallas (Power to the People)**

District Twelve

 **Dayley Harrvis (A Night To Remember)**

 **Alinta Fintan (Power to the People)**

 **Vesper Lynd (28th Games)**

 **Kuma Swain (Into Thin Air)**

 **Nash Forger (Survivor)**

 **Aliara Bavier (Survivor)**

 **Peach Unk (We All Fall Down)**

 **Total: 93 and counting**

* * *

 **Tributes resubmitted from other stories or originally submitted:**

 **Eridan Medea (Moon Skies) 2m**

 **Coral Tide- 4f**

 **Mustang Cobalt- 6m**

 **Autumn Kane- 9f**

 **Kegn Yuehan (Crash Landing) 7m**

 **Phoenix Hemlock (Forest of Death) 7m**

 **Minos Vella (I forgot)**

 **Decimal 3f- Thalia, 9f- Vester 8m- Jason 12m Natalie 2f (Moon Skies)**

 **Troy Jenkins (I forgot)**

 **Lexi Concord (Who Tells Your Story) 4f**

 **Anthra Mine (SilverflowerxRavenpaw submitter her somewhere) 12f**

 **Culic North (5m)**

 **Aurora Evergrove (12f)**

 **Flash Wire (3m)**

 **Field Evergreen (12m)**

 **Luna Irika (4F)**

 **Eve Martinez (10F)**

 **Dylan Brooke (4m)**

 **Aspen Imense (12m)**

 **Grayn Messiel (11m)**

 **Alder Peacebrook (12m)**

 **Denim Belltide (8m)**

 **Flannel Twist (8f)**

 **Dylan Aquarias (4m)**

 **Emmie Falkin (3f)**

 **Bliss Bete (9f)**

 **Roxin Waydes (5m)**

 **Halon Baxter (3m)**

 **Shelley Star Waters (4f)**

 **Daria Junius (11f)**

 **Hindi Kabyle (Crash Landing, I think?) 3f**

 **Gloria Martez (1f)**

 **Levi Fields (10m)**

 **Giovanni Cancri (8m)**

 **Helena Inka (7f)**

 **Mia Barnes (9f)**

 **Viola Pierre (2f) (?)**

 **Cottyn Thimble (8f)**

 **Elle Kaming (10f)**

 **Citlali Kenyi (Royal Blood)**

 **Madison English (1f)**

 **Elle Kama (10f)**

 **Total: 36 and counting**

* * *

T **Total Total: 130 and counting**

 **There's room for plenty more! I'm especially looking for nominations from people from my old stories since they're easier to write, but other writers or originals are also welcome. I want EVERYONE to be able to participate.**

* * *

 **Titian Qin**

 _I'm so happy we're doing another huge Games. There's going to be more than a hundred Tributes this time! What a glorious Bloodbath. It's just too bad one of them gets to live. Wow, the betting's going to be really messed up this time. Not that I care, since I don't bet. I want to stay in this job a long time. I get all my kicks in the legal way. Only legal murder for me._


	4. District One RISE

**Edit: I overlooked Gloria.**

 **Edit: I also overlooked Madison and Minos! Here's Madison while I'm finding Minos.**

 **Edit: Ask and you RECEIVE! Valerie and Jason, coming up!**

 **Edit: There's Minos!**

* * *

Onyx Soul- District One male

 _I've been resurrected._

There seemed to be a blank space in my memory, but I didn't care. For the first time in a long time, I had clarity again. I remembered my mission and I remembered what I had to do. That was all that mattered.

My face looked empty when I sat up and looked at the mirror beside my bed. My eyes were cold and my face was hard. I got up silently and felt the cold floor under my bare feet. I was ready to get back into the Arena. This time, my head was in the right place.

* * *

Ruby Lalonde- District One female

"So who won?"

"Lancia," Blake said.

I nodded. "All right." It could have been worse. Lancia seemed nice.

"At least Charming's dead," I said as I got up.

"About that..." Blake said. She explained to me that everyone above twelfth place was allowed to live.

"This is some _bull!"_ I nearly screamed when she was done. Why did they get to live when I had to die? Why did they get futures and I was nothing but a Capitol ghost? Another thought crossed my mind and my heart skipped.

"Please, don't tell me my mom's dead, too."

* * *

Jayden Chadsey- District One male

 _I blew it, didn't I ?_

 _Nice job showing everyone One could do it, screwup._ But hey, sometimes you win, sometimes you enter a neverending cycle of deaths and rebirths. Unless you're only a little popular and they forget about you, leaving you to die permanently.

"Second time's the charm?" Blake asked.

"Let's hope so."

* * *

Charming Goodwin- District One male

I was starting to think maybe this wasn't the best idea. When I sent a message to the Capitol asking if I could still participate in the Resurrection Games if I'd never actually died, I didn't expect an answer. I _really_ didn't expect a yes.

 _What are you even doing?_

I was a success. I had everything I wanted. I was rich, I was powerful, I was influential. So why was I coming back to the Games? Because I didn't actually want any of those things. I wanted to win the Games. Old habits die hard.

* * *

Priscilla Piscot- District One female

As soon as I opened my eyes, I looked over at the other side of the room, dreading what I might not see. When I saw another bed, my face lit up.

"Wake up, big brother!" I yelled, jumping onto Miall's bed. "Come play with me!"

Miall groaned and swatted at me. "Five more minutes," he said.

"Nope!" I beaned him in the face with my pillow. He shoved me off the bed.

I crouched by his head, peeling the covers up between two fingers. "Come play with me. Come play with me. Come play with me..."

* * *

Miall Piscot- District One male

I had a lot to take in. Priscilla had been in another Resurrection Games, but I got passed over. Priscilla told me she spent the whole time miserable and she'd rather just not come back then come back alone. This time we were together again, and we both knew our chances. The time that really mattered was what we had in the Capitol, before the Arena. After that was over... we just both hoped we'd be the first to go.

I didn't even know if I wanted to win anymore. I'd been dead longer than I'd been alive. It was the _forty-ninth_ Games. I'd been dead since the thirty-fourth. Things had changed. Technology was better. Everyone I knew had moved on from our deaths. Honestly, Priscilla was stronger than me. She could be happy in this new world. She thought she couldn't go on alone, but she had before and she could again. I would do everything I could to make sure she would.

* * *

Karyssa Evans- District One female

My kitty was dead. There was no way Misa was still alive after nine years. My poor little kitty.

But I had more important matters to attend to. It seemed there was a Resurrection Games afoot. I'd seen them, of course, but I'd never been in one. They were tricky business, to be sure. There were so many Tributes, at each one was bigger than the last. This one probably had about two hundred Tributes. And only one of us was going to win. One person out of two hundred. The odds weren't in anyone's favor.

What a comeback for whoever won. If I was going to get through this, I would have to take down around a hundred and fifty people. But then, someone had to do it. I just had to do everything right.

* * *

Fable Anders- District One female

That wasn't a very happy ending. But it was okay. It was time for the sequel!

I had to laugh when I found out it was Hades who won. I should have known. Patrick and I were both wounded and covered in freezing water. Hades was just chilling in his boat and then _bam!_ He was the Victor. Maybe it wasn't _my_ happy ending, but it _was_ pretty funny.

 _Last time didn't work, but_ this _time I'm going to win,_ I told myself. And if I didn't, I was in limbo now. Once you got into the Resurrection Games, you pretty much had all eternity to cycle around. We wouldn't die until Panem fell. _That_ was a real trip to think about. All the same, though, more sequels wouldn't be necessary. Part one and part two would be a nice number.

* * *

Gloria Martez- District One female

I was a little surprised they picked me. I was only twelve years old, after all. I did pretty good, but I was so little. There were going to be so many people so much older than me. But age didn't matter nearly as much as training. Fighting is _hard._ People all think they can win a fight, but most of us don't know how difficult it is. It's so easy to freeze up, and if you don't know what you're doing, it doesn't even matter if you don't freeze up. I was trained, and I could still win this.

"How many people are in the Games?" I asked my mentor Blake. I'd never seen her before, but I was glad One had some more Victors.

"Uh... 130? Somewhere around there," Blake said. "I sort of lost count. A lot."

"How many are Careers?" I asked.

"Shoot, I should know that, shouldn't I?" Blake said. "About 30."

"I'll have to be really careful," I mused.

"Honestly, I'd suggest you lay low at first. People are going to target you, even though you're trained. Don't shoot your shot too early. Lay low, and come out when they least expect you," Blake said.

"Thanks," I said. I was glad I had a mentor with a good head on her shoulders. I was trained, but I could always use more advice.

* * *

Madison English- District One

My first thought was "huh, I died". My second thought was "this is exactly what I need."

"Hey everyone, how's the loser's club?" I asked when I met my fellow fallen Ones. "This time let's try to do better."

"Yeah, what she said," one of the girls said. She came over to greet me. "I'm Priscilla. Your Games were a long time ago, right?"

"Yeah, we weren't as competitive back then," I said. "I don't really know what to expect."

"Obviously we didn't either," Priscilla said.

 _Yeah, poor little me,_ I thought. _I have_ no _chance. You don't have to worry about me at all..._

* * *

Ava Vave- District One

"I _what?!"_

"You died. no big deal. It happens to a lot of us. Three of us Victors are former dead Tributes," Peridot said.

"This is unacceptable! I want a recount," I said.

"Uh... okay," Peridot said. "Recount's in. You died."

 _Well it won't happen again._ I was strong. I was trained. It didn't matter _how_ many others there were. This was my time to win. I was from One, the best District. We were born winners. This was mine for the taking, and I wanted it.

* * *

Valerie Lenn- District One

I turned my head and my stomach turned to ice.

"You came to visit me?"

I knew it wasn't true. If Jason came to visit me, he wouldn't be in another bed just like mine. My baby brother wasn't here to visit me. I didn't have the heart to say what I knew.

I lost everything for him. When I saw what I'd done to him, I gave it all up and spent all I had trying to make sure he didn't do the same. I didn't want to see Jason here. I wanted him to be anywhere but here. I wanted him to be happy. I died to make that happen. Seeing him here was the worst part of dying.

* * *

Jason Lenn- District One

"I'm sorry."

I blew it. Valerie gave her life to show me how useless it was to volunteer. Then I went and volunteered. I took her sacrifice and stepped all over it. I watched her die for me and I hated her for it. I thought she was a coward and a traitor. I wished I'd never had a sister. Now I wished the same thing, because I didn't deserve a sister.

"Did Mom and Dad make you do it?" Valerie asked. Her eyes begged me to confirm it.

"I just... it was a mistake," I said. I could barely look her in the eye. "Just don't watch the tapes, okay? I don't want you to see them." I didn't want her to see what I said in the interview- about redeeming my family for her 'weakness'.

"I won't," Valerie said. She looked at the ceiling.

"Guess I really screwed up," I said.

"Guess we both did," Valerie did.

"Let's make sure one of us gets through this time," I joked.

"Let's make sure it's you," Valerie said.

"No, you," I said.

"No you..."

* * *

Minos Vella- District One

 _Oh dear, this_ is _embarrassing._

If I got back to One, I was never going to hear the end of it. I certainly couldn't be an Academy teacher anymore. Every singletime I told the students something, it would be 'but you _diiiiiiiiiiied_ once!' 'What do yoooooou know?' 'We want someone who hasn't diiiiiiied to teach us!'. You die _one time,_ you get no respect.

There was only one thing to do: not die this time. I'd at least have a fifty-fifty record. Maybe they'd still let me be something stupid, like the bolo instructor.

 _Wait a minute. What am I talking about? I won't have to teach if I win. I'll be filthy rich! Boy, you sure are a scatterbrain._

* * *

 **Ta-da we got another One girl!**

 **I think I have everyone in place... but probably I missed someone so if I did I'll add them.**

 **POVs will be longer after everyone is raised.**


	5. District Two RISE

**I forgot Calvin, so there's one One male.**

 **Edit: Jason and Valerie are actually from Two, and I forgot Natalie and Eridan. Found Viola!**

* * *

Tuesday Erelle- District Two female

Stop the presses. Why? The reporter _died,_ that's why.

The first thing I saw when I got up was two feral, beady green eyes glaring at me. Pray was _not_ happy.

"I think maybe this wasn't the best idea," I said.

"A bit late now, isn't it?" Pray asked. "At least this time I have other mentees who aren't a waste of time."

I wasn't even mad. Pray was right. I volunteered so I could write a tell-all story about the Games. Hindsight is 20/20, and I saw now that I could have just interviewed one of our dozen Victors... like Pray.

"Maybe should mentor the... better contenders," I said. "I can train with Doris or something."

"Just try to do better this time," Pray said, and she left.

 _You and me both, sister._

* * *

Troy Cahill- District Two male

My mom was going to kill me. An Academy teacher sends her own son into the Games and he _died._ She probably got fired. What a debacle.

"If I win, can I _not_ go home? Can I just stay here?" I asked Makarios.

"Sure, if you get invited," he said.

"No problem. I'll find some lonely old lady. I'll be a sugar baby," I said. _Hey. I win the Games, I_ deserve _to be lazy._

"A sugar baby." Makarios was less than impressed.

"I'm young. I'm handsome. _Someone_ will go for it," I said.

"Let's just work on winning first," Makarios said.

* * *

Daren Gerard- District Two male

In the _Bloodbath. Ouch!_

This was all Amphilia's fault. She had a bone to pick with Careers and took it out on me. I wasn't even from Four. Why didn't she pick on Patrick? Thanks to some grudge I had nothing to do with, I died in the Bloodbath.

But enough whining. The past was the past, and all I could change was the future. I'd just have to do things different this time. Like avoid Amphilia.

I was still lucky, though. This Resurrection Games was right after my original one. I wasn't like some of the competitors, who would be fifty years old if they hadn't been dead so long. I was getting a redo, essentially. I just had to get past more than a hundred other people on their redos.

* * *

Ember Steiner- District Two female

I pretended I was still asleep. I knew my father was in the room. I couldn't bear to face him. It seemed like hours before he left. It was probably just to use the bathroom, so I moved fast. I jumped out of bed and slipped out of the room, praying I wouldn't run into him as I fled.

I didn't see Shui anywhere. Either something went wrong cloning him and he would come later, or he wasn't coming at all. I'd lost my brother and I broke my father's heart. I wanted to cry.

I knew I couldn't stay away from him forever. He wanted to see me as much as I didn't want to see him. I had to prepare myself.

An Avox scurried by, pressing himself against the wall so he wouldn't be in my way.

"Excuse me," I called after him. He turned to answer. "Who won the Forty-Third Hunger Games?"

The Avox thought for a minute, then took a pad out of his pocket. _Blake Armani,_ he wrote.

When I saw it, I smiled. At least I had something to be happy about.

* * *

Cierra Daline- District Two female

They thought I was good enough to bring back twice. It was silly, but that made me feel really good about myself. So good that I didn't think I didn't deserve it anymore. I _was_ a good Career. Maybe I hadn't won yet, but a lot of Careers hadn't. I could, though.

Arielle was still here, but neither of us could find Steel. There didn't seem to be any lists of all the Tributes, but just because we couldn't find her didn't mean she wasn't there. There were so many of us.

"She might not have wanted to come back," Arielle said.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," I said. Steel had ironclad morals. Winning wasn't everything to her. For whoever won out of all these people, it had to be.

* * *

Theo Kasius- District Two male

I didn't want to kill this many people. People think Careers like killing, and a lot of us do, but some of us are in it for other reasons. Some of us know it's the only advancement anyone in the Districts can get, some want money for their families, and some don't want someone else to get Reaped. It's our culture- it's hard for outliers to understand.

I was glad I got picked, though. I felt cheated by how things went down last time. No one wanted to go out by poison. Maybe an outlier, but not a Career. For better or for worse, all of us valued a fight. We knew some of us had to die, and we just hoped we died with our boots on. With this many people around, that shouldn't be a problem.

* * *

Jessie Cabello- District Two female

"Did Fable win?"

"No, it was Hades," Pray said.

" _Hades?_ Okay, that _is_ a _little_ funny," I said. "Who did the poison gas?"

"Who do you think?" Pray asked.

"Zibby," we said together.

"Good. At least she didn't win. That _sucked,"_ I said.

"Fable's here too," Pray said.

Hearing that reminded me of what this was, and one thought immediately came to my head.

"What about Chrome?" I asked.

"Yes, she's-" Pray started. I didn't hear the rest, because I was running.

* * *

Chrome Cabello- District Two female

My doorknob jiggled.

 _Don't be Jessie,_ I prayed. _Don't be Jessie..._

I had no idea how old Jessie was. I had no idea how old _I_ was. Maybe I shouldn't have been worrying about my sister opening the door. I should have been worried my sister was dead of _old age._

She wasn't dead of old age. Jessie tore into the room, looking maybe two years older.

"You weren't supposed to volunteer!" I said as she jumped onto my bed.

"I know," she said. "I wasn't strong enough."

"Well, you have to be now," I said. "I'm not going to watch you die twice."

"You didn't watch me die," Jessie said. " _I_ only watched _you_ die."

"It's going to stay that way," I said.

* * *

Akari Igneous- District Two female

 _This_ is _a bit awkward._

It was Ava who greeted me when I sat up in bed. She looked as embarrassed as I was surprised.

"You won?" I asked.

"Yeah, it was me," she said.

I could have slapped myself. Ava weighed about eighty pounds in the Arena. With all my muscle, she was _half_ of me. She weighed as much as an eight-year-old and she was the one that won.

"You know what? Good job," I said, shaking my head in defeat.

"Thanks," she said. "You don't have to be with me if you don't want."

"I'll do some shopping around and see who fits," I said. It might end up being Ava, though. She obviously knew something I didn't.

* * *

Calvin Harris- District ONE male

I died. I was fully dead. That meant I'd paid for everything. I was wiped clean.

I didn't have to feel guilty about volunteering anymore. This time, I was selected. It wasn't my idea. I was clean from last Games, and this time I had nothing to be guilty about.

 _What am I going to do with this?_ I had an entirely fresh start. I could play any way I wanted. I could fight to win, or I could choose a nonviolent approach. Honestly, I didn't have the courage to refuse to fight. I still wanted to win. In this bunch of Tributes, there were plenty of people I wouldn't feel guilty killing. The rest could sort themselves out.

* * *

Natalie Andrez- District Two female (16)

I didn't know what came after you died, but I didn't think it was a hospital room.

"Excuse me," I asked the first nurse who came in. "What's going on? I definitely died."

"Don't worry about that," he said. "You're not dead anymore."

"I noticed that. But why not?" I asked.

"It's a Resurrection Games," he said, and then he left, like all my questions were answered.

 _What the heck?_ What kind of whacked-out brain thought of that? I knew the Capitol was murderous, but this was _ghoulish._

There was a knock on my door. Just as I was wondering who else had been resurrected, I saw a face I'd hoped never to see again.

"Hey, Natalie. Have you heard anything about Feferi?"

* * *

Eridan Medea- District Two male

Alas, I failed my beloved Feferi. I could only hope it hadn't been too long before they decided to do a "Resurrection Game". But even if Feferi was old and gray, she would still be the most beautiful woman who ever lived. And surely she had been waiting for me, because she was also faithful.

" _How_ many people got Resurrected?" I asked my mentor, a nice-looking man named Crag.

"About a hundred and fifty. They're still making more, so I don't know the exact number," he said.

Natalie was here, too, but she didn't seem very happy to see me. Maybe because she _killed me!_ That hurt, but I still had to ask if she'd seen Feferi. She hadn't, but it didn't matter. I would find her. True love always wins.

* * *

Viola Pierre- District Two female

I never even wanted to volunteer. I _didn't_ volunteer. I got picked, I didn't volunteer, and I got Reaped. What are the odds? The universe had it in for me.

My first thought was for Violet. Before I got sent to the Games, I got together enough money to get me and my little sister into a tiny house. But what did she do after I was gone? How long had I _been_ gone?

That was another thing. I was _dead._ Dead is dead- we know that more than we know anything else in Two. It went against everything natural for me to be back like this. It was messing with my head. I didn't want to think about the metaphysics of being cloned into a completely new body.

I was so mixed up I couldn't think straight. Violet was out there. I _died._ Violet could have died of old age. This could be a hundred years in the future. Was Panem even still around? What were the odds that, a hundred years in the future, we were still having Hunger Games...?

* * *

 **Did someone submit Shui? I thought it was only Ember so I only wrote her.**


	6. District Three RISE I hope

**Oops I forgot Hindi!**

* * *

Shinju Matsushita- District Three female

"Sup?"

Lyte was older, which was funny. For like twenty years he'd been perpetually thirteen, and now he looked like a young man, but a man all the same. He was taller than me, which was even funnier.

"They picked me?" I was surprised until I remembered my last Games weren't broadcast. As far as the public new, I was still the monster girl.

"Now you can show them what you're really like," Lyte said. "Oh, and... you might want to look out. They kind of resurrected Ally, too. She might be mad."

Maybe a little, since I killed her and drank her blood. If it made her feel any better, I got myself infected with hepatitis and died. But that probably didn't make her feel much better. And she probably wasn't as forgiving as Lyte.

* * *

Halon Baxter- District Three male

 _This is weird._

I was definitely dead. That could only mean one thing: this was one of those Resurrection Games. I didn't think they'd pick someone like me. I was smart and all, but that was just normal in Three.

 _Hold on. I got cloned._

If I got cloned, this was an entirely new body. I wasn't sick anymore. I wasn't dying anymore.

I couldn't fathom it. I ran my hands over my new chest, trying to feel the sickness that wasn't there. I was as whole as anyone else, and it was awesome. Not that it mattered if I didn't win, though. I stopped thinking about my current health and got to work thinking about my future health.

* * *

Flash Wire- District Three male (11* see note)

I was back in the Games, and there were more than a hundred players this time. I was _really_ going to have to think hard if I was going to get out of this one.

"Can I see the footage of the other three Resurrection Games?" I asked my mentor, who was some guy I didn't recognize. As soon as he helped me set up the tapes, I started to analyze them, looking for patterns. I already saw one in the Arena choices, and that gave me a clue to what the next one might be. If I was right, I could get a jump start on everyone.

* * *

Emmie Falkin- District Three female

 _Good job, Emmie. You_ died. _Perfect._

I was doing so well, too. I was alive right up until I died. A couple more days and I might have had it. But no use crying over spilled milk.

"So this is one of those weird Resurrection Games," I said to no one in particular. It seemed there had been three of them, but I didn't get picked for the first two. How weird was that? Like 'Oh yeah, Emmie, we can't forget her, even though we did the first two times'. Not that I was complaining. I'd only been picked for one, so I'd just make it that I only _needed_ one.

* * *

Decimal Techstone- District Three female

Game over. But wait! _Continue._

Take two, and this time, I was going to win. That first time was just practice. This one was for all the quarters.

"So where's Zeus?" I asked Acee.

"They didn't pick him," she blurted.

"What?" I asked. _How could they not pick him?_ I assumed the only reason I got picked was because I fell in love with my partner. Why would they pick me and not him.

"I should probably leave you alone,"Acee said, and she ran for it. She wasn't one for complex emotions. She just didn't want to make things worse.

Despite her ignorance, she did the right thing. As soon as she shut the door, I threw my covers over my head and curled into a ball, hugging myself to make up for the arms that weren't there.

* * *

Gidget Ford- District Three female

"What Games is this?" I felt sick as I waited for the answer

"It's the year after the forty-ninth," Acee said.

 _Seven years old._ My baby was seven years old. She was a little girl now. She'd taken her first steps without me. She said her first word without me. She went to her first day of preschool and caught her first butterfly and sang little girl songs without me.

I wanted my baby. I wanted to hold my little girl and feel her heart. All that was gone now. Even if I won, that would never come back to me. My husband would at least be the same man I left, but I'd lost my baby forever.

* * *

Lisette Crowley- District Three female

I was actually flattered they picked me. I wasn't smart like most people in Three. I was creative, and that wasn't valued much where I came from.

 _There are so many of us._ When I ventured out into the lounge where the Tributes were meeting each other, I was blown away. There were more people than I'd ever seen in a room at once, other than an auditorium. It was as many people as my entire school.

I didn't see many people from my Games. Maple was there, and Jayden and Ember. And a _whole_ lot of other people. I was a face in the crowd. I was one leaf in an autumn wind.

 _Don't think like that. You can still do this._ All those other faces were also one in the crowd. _All_ our chances were low. We were still even. It was the same as ever, and I could win.

* * *

Electra Magneta- District Three female

Here we were again. Another day, another Resurrection Games. This time, something was different.

As soon I woke up, I felt something different about myself. I was stronger, for one thing. They must have pumped in a few steroids to counter the emaciation from my last couple of Arenas. The real difference was in my mind, though. I wasn't who I used to be. I felt sadder, somehow, like I was still mourning myself. I felt more confident, too, even though I died last time. I was starting to realize what it meant to play the Game, no matter what it took.

* * *

Sparkil Mclein- District Three female

 _WTF?_

I was entirely cloned from scratch, but I still had a metal arm. I was actually really happy about it- my metal arm was such a part of me that if they'd put a normal one on, I probably would have chopped it off so I could get my real one back. It was still funny, though. They cloned me, chopped off a perfectly good arm, and put my metal one back on so my "look" wouldn't be lost.

"All right, lay it on me. Who won?" I asked Acee. _PleasenotCharmingpleasenotCharming..._

"Lancia." _Whew. That's all right._

"Oh by the way Charming's still alive," Acee added.

 _"Say what?!"_

"Yeah everyone above twelfth place lived," Acee said.

 _Unbelievable._

"So, about Charming..."

* * *

Demarcus King- District Three

 _Who's he gonna add this time?_

If I was here, Jay was here. He was gonna have his huge alliance, and with this many people, he was gonna add more.

"Hey, Demarcus my man! How's about an alliance?" Jay asked when he saw me. He'd already found Austin and Zach.

"Hey, why not?" I asked. We slapped hands in turn. "Rounding up the old gang?"

"You bet," Jay said. He saw Logan in the crowd and started making his way over.

"Maybe one of us will actually win this time," I said to Zach.

"Maybe," he shrugged. "Honestly, it's kind of fun just like this."

* * *

Tatsuya Hikaru- District Three male

I could not have made this up. It was Hades. _Hades_ won. When I saw Patrick and Fable both lurking in the lounge, I had to laugh. Who won the Hunger Games? Was it Fable, the phenom from One? Was it Patrick Donegal, the Victor's brother? Or was it Hades, the little kid from Seven who hadn't even hit his growth spurt? The answer was obvious. Hades, of course.

As happy as I was for him, I had to think of my own Games. But on the bright side, the toughest competition was gone. Hades Rodriguez, the scourge of the Arena, had already won. Really, I had nothing to worry about now.

* * *

Gizmo Torrens- District Three male

"When you have time, Nubu wants to see you," Beetee remarked. "Should I tell him you're ready?"

"Uh... no, I should probably focus on training for a while," I said. I didn't have anything to feel guilty about. You had to play the Games to win, and we were all trying to do the same thing. All the same, there was something about Nubu. Somehow, when he looked at you, you felt like the highest moral standard was the only moral standard, and if you didn't measure up to that, there was no escaping it. I was a good person, but I wasn't that good. If I wanted to win, I couldn't think like Nubu.

Emmeline was back again, and so was Des. That was less than ideal, since Des split my head open and it was Emmeline's idea. This time, I didn't think I'd ally with them. Call it a hunch.

* * *

Emmeline Blythe- District Three female

They weren't going to keep picking me forever. I wasn't as exciting as some of the other characters I saw in the roster. I wasn't statuesque like Des or mythic like Floki. I was a boring, plain-faced girl. My only asset was my intelligence and I hadn't shown I could win with that. I wasn't going to get infinite chances like some of the people I was fighting against. I was acutely aware of my own mortality, and I couldn't see a sure way out. Logic and planning played a huge part of the Games, but so did luck and so did the Capitol. All the smarts in the world couldn't guarantee I would live. And smarts was all I had.

* * *

Jayla Dean- District Three female

 _Well, shoot. I died._

It was nothing to be ashamed of, really. Twenty-three kids bit it every year. With luck, it wouldn't happen again. Far more likely, it _would_ happen again. Kill me twice, shame on you...

This _did_ open up a legal can of worms. I'd been convicted of killing my girlfriend, but Jayla Dean legally died. Was I still a convict? Can a ghost be a murderer?

Not that that would change my reputation. _"So, I was convicted of killing my girlfriend,"_ I could say to my hypothetical new beau. _"It was an accident, though. Really. And it doesn't matter, since I died and now I'm not convicted!"_ Yeah, I was a real catch.

* * *

Hindi Kabyle- District Three female

This seemed appropriate. I loved history, and here I was repeating it. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be as complex an Arena as last time, which wasn't saying much. Arenas tended to cycle, in my experience. A weird one was followed by a normal one. Since the last Arena was a boat, as Acee told me, this one might be more normal. Then again, Resurrection Arenas were always weird, and they always had _nasty_ mutts. Yeah, it wasn't going to be a nice Arena. Not that it ever _was_ a nice Arena. Candyland, maybe.

 _Do the Resurrection_ Victors _have anything in common?_ The latest was Vera, and no one knew much about her Games. There was Kazuo, Frankie, and Ava. Three of the four were Careers, and Frankie was pretty close. Since I wasn't trained at all, that boded perfectly for me.


	7. District Four RISE

**The note in District Three was that I was supposed to add that Flash Wire is 10 in his form because his original story was a special Games. I bumped him to 11 and my explanation is that he falsified his age to get tesserae.**

* * *

Coral Tide- District Four female

Something wasn't right. I was dead, and now I wasn't. That usually didn't happen.

"Excuse me, what's going on?" I asked the first doctor who came by. Did they decide to let two people win? I wasn't even second.

"Oh, you haven't heard, have you?" the doctor said. "This is a Resurrection Games. A whole of bunch of dead Tributes get to try again! Isn't that nice?"

 _It would be a lot nicer if we hadn't died._ I didn't want to be ungrateful, but we wouldn't have to bring back dead kids if the kids didn't die.

 _Wait a minute. Holy crap_ Resurrection?

"How does that work?" I asked.

The doctor shrugged. "I don't really know. Cloning or something."

 _Well that's just creepy._ We have all that technology, and we use it to make the Games better? Why don't we use them for something good, like hospitals or something? We could be such a great country.

* * *

Lexi Concord- District Four

It wasn't a trick. They really did kill them.

My mother told me it wasn't true. No one thought it was true. Nothing could be this ghastly. They couldn't have killed twenty-three children. I didn't believe it until I saw it.

After I became one of the second twenty-three, I woke up in a hospital bed. But why was I waking up? I saw those children die. They weren't just gravely wounded and getting carted away. You couldn't fix that.

Then again, Capitol medicine was amazing. They could restart a heart that had been cold for hours. It could be possible.

I knew what it was. My face broke out in a grin and I sat right up in bed.

"They changed their minds, right?" I asked the nurse. "They canceled the Games? This was the last one and they brought all the kids back?"

The nurse had a funny look on her face as she told me the truth.

* * *

Luna Irika- District Four female

My mother told me I shouldn't skip days. Usually, when I didn't listen to my mother, I got in trouble or something mildly bad happened. Usually listening to my mother wasn't the difference between life and death. She always acted like it would be. I was never good enough, and she made sure I knew about it.

She was right. She was right all along. My mind went back to every one of the days I played hooky, skipping out of Academy classes to goof off with friends. There were a handful of them over ten years, but it was enough. But I had a second chance now. I was going to win this time, and _not_ for my mother. I loved her, but I was the one who was fighting. Not her way, even if it was more disciplined. Turning into my mother wouldn't win the Games. I had to do this myself.

* * *

Dylan Brooke- District Four male

"So, I'm back from the dead?" I asked.

"That's right," the doctor said.

"So it's been like a really long time, right?" I asked.

"I'd say so," the doctor said.

"So my dad has probably moved on," I said. _And probably disowned me._ Neither of those were bad things, though. I just wanted to be sure.

"Don't be sad. If you win this time, I'm sure he'll take you back," the doctor said.

"Screw that," I said to the doctor. I hopped out of bed and made for the door. I had a date with the stylists. This time, _no one_ was going to tell me makeup was for girls.

* * *

Reefe Mordecai- District Four male

I saw a sterile roof above my head and knew exactly what was going on.

 _Oh, no._

Why would they pick me? I was a screw-up. I was the single dumbest volunteer in the history of volunteers. There was no way I was ever going to win the Games. It was bad enough I made a fool of myself once. Couldn't they let me die with dignity?

"You must be very excited about this opportunity," one of the nurses said.

"Nyeh," I muttered. I would have been excited if it had been an opportunity. Well, it _was_ an opportunity- an opportunity to _die_ again. An opportunity I happily would have turned down.

* * *

Daisy Stem- District Four female

 _Well, that didn't turn out so well._

All things considered, it was a cool way to go. I was up so high I didn't even remember hitting the ground. It didn't really matter anyway. They were just going to keep resurrecting me. I'd live my life a couple of weeks at a time. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

Maybe this time I'd make some allies. Life is better with friends. Maybe one of them would even win. That would be nice. Until then, I'd just keep trying. No use crying over spilled milk and no use feeling sorry for myself. Life is as happy as you make it.

* * *

Eren Lindell- District Four female

 **EDIT: WOW I had her as a boy! Oops! I knew in my head as I wrote. It was a typo, but that's a pretty important typo!**

I was so close. I was so close. I was twenty-second out of twenty-four. Odds like that were once in a lifetime. I was here again, and those odds wouldn't cut it. There had to be a hundred of us. I had to be ninety-nine out of a hundred. I bottled lightning once getting that close. It would never happen again.

None of us were confident this time. None of us thought we'd magically be the only one to live out of a hundred people. We all thought we'd die eventually. We were all fighting to stay alive, but it didn't matter. With this many people, it was luck of the draw. When I killed someone, I would be doing it to stay alive. But if I knew I was going to die, was it still justifiable? Did any morality still apply?

I couldn't think about it. The Games were no place for meaningless philosophy. I had to do what it took to stay alive, like everyone else. If no one knew what was moral anymore, none of us were more to blame than anyone else.

* * *

Amphilia Fortune- District Four female

"Who did it?"

"I don't think that really makes a-" Careen started.

" _Who was it?!"_

"Fine. It was Zibby. Does that make you feel better?" Careen asked.

"Is she here too?" I asked.

"Yep," Careen said.

"I'm gonna kill her." I jumped out of bed.

"And will that fix anything?" Careen asked.

"It will make me feel better," I said.

"It won't, really," Careen said.

In my heart, I knew she was right. I sat down and made myself listen.

"The best revenge is winning," Careen said. "Win this, then go piss on her grave."

I liked that.

* * *

Marley Xander- District Four female

The first person I saw was exactly who I would have hoped for.

"Ava! You did it!" I almost yelled. I tried to grab her hand and pull myself up, but she was so light I pulled her down with me.

"You killed Venus? I thought she was immortal!" I said.

"I did, too. It wasn't easy," Ava said.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"It would be easier to say what I didn't do," Ava said.

Finally, we got down to talking business.

"I've never seen this many people in a Games," Ava said. "If you want to win, you have to stand out."

"No problem," I said. I'd been doing that for years.

* * *

Dath Zachariah- District Four male

This was the best deal ever. There were four times as many Tributes this time, and I got to kill as many as I wanted. If I died, I'd come back later and I could kill even more. Honestly, it was an incentive to fail.

"Anyone else from my Games?" I asked Jonah.

"Not that I noticed," he said.

"Oh well, blood is blood," I said. This was going to take a long time. I'd do all I could, but it just took time to kill people. I wished it would start already. It was going to take forever to do all the parades, interviews, and sessions. Then there was training, for those of us who weren't ready. They might as well lay right down and die, because some of us _were_ ready.

* * *

Arielle Ermin- District Four female

It was Ava. None of us saw that coming. I would have thought it would be Venus.

I wanted to curl up into a ball and give up. It seemed insurmountable. It was hard enough with twenty-four people. With this many, it was hopeless. There was no way out. There was only dying, and living, and dying for their entertainment.

 _I'm not giving up._

Everything in life was against odds. Out of infinite ways any day could play out, it played out some way. Every word I said was one word out of thousands. Two people meeting and falling in love, that was astronomical. There were a million ways to die, and I hadn't tried out more than two. There were a million ways to live, and I was still looking for mine.

* * *

Whyte Roberts- District Four

Vera was waiting by my bed when I woke up.

"Hey, you're back, too!" I said.

She looked embarrassed. "Actually, I won."

"It was you?" I wanted to tell her it was great, and it was, but I felt a flash of jealousy. It was only natural, and I did intent to tell her it was great, but she beat me.

"I won a different way. It's complicated," she said. "It's great to see you again, though."

"So you're home free, huh?" I asked. "That's great!" Probably neither of us ever thought either of us would make it big. We were kind of second-rate Careers.

"I suppose there's someone else you want to see?" Vera asked. She saw my guilty smile and smiled back. "It's all right. Don't let me stand in your way." She moved her hand, and I noticed the ring on her finger. _Wow, you die a few years and you miss everything._

* * *

Floki Grimm- District Four

"Guess who's back?!"  
Whyte came barreling into my room as I was just getting up.

"Is Vera here too?" I asked. I knew what I felt, but I never wanted to get between them.

"Would you believe it? She won, and then she got married and didn't even invite me!"

"That's good for her," I said, saying the polite thing that came to mind as I tried to sort things out. It _was_ good Vera won. She was a nice girl. I cared more about Whyte, though.

"So she dumped you," I said.

"I was gonna dump her, but then I died," Whyte said.

"Now you're single and ready to mingle," I said.

"I wouldn't say single," Whyte said. "I _am_ ready to mingle, though."

* * *

Patrick Donegal- District Four male

Shane didn't look very happy to see me. I was glad for it. He wasn't mad at me, even though he should have been. He wasn't telling me all sorts of advice and tips so this time it wouldn't happen again. He was quiet when he saw me, and his face was peaceful. It was peaceful because he didn't have hope.

Shane didn't think I would be coming back. He didn't have to mourn me again because I was a passing ghost, and soon I'd be gone again. It was the best thing for him. I wanted to spend every minute I had with my big brother, but the best thing I could do was go away. I would try to get home to him, but I would never let him think I thought it was possible. I never wanted to break his heart again. For once, I had to put him first.

* * *

 **Tomorrow's my last night of work! After that I should be able to write more.**


	8. District Five RISE

Culic Norph- District Five male

Something must have gone wrong. I was supposed to win. It was my destiny, and it shouldn't even have been hard for me. I was the perfect package.

Obviously there had been a mistake. _This_ time, after things went right and I became the Victor I was supposed to be, there would be consequences for whoever's fault this was.

"You doing all right?" my mentor asked.

"I got this. Just stay out of my way," I said. He got up and left without another word.

 _What do you think of that?_ As useless as a mentor is, he's supposed to try to help. It was a good thing I didn't need him.

* * *

Roxin Waydes- District Five

Wasn't it bad enough I had to do this once? Just when I thought I hit the bottom of depravity, the Capitol handed me a shovel.

I snuck away before my mentor could get to me. This wasn't his fault, but I preferred to do things alone. I knew I should have at least heard what he had to say, but I wanted to get started and I didn't want to make any relationships, even with a mentor. That had burned me in the past, and once burned, twice shy.

With this many people, I anticipated a very large, very complicated Arena. An indoor one wouldn't be big enough, and that meant I should work on wilderness survival. In the back of my head I knew I should be weirded out about dying, but I wanted to focus on the future. Focusing on the past would just make it happen again.

* * *

Daniel Mondins- District Five male

There was someone I was supposed to remember. She was young, and she looked a little like me. She kept popping up in my thoughts, which were scrambled and blurry. I knew she was important, but I couldn't remember why.

This was the Games. That much I knew. There were a few reasons I would remember someone from the Games. I tried to think back over my last Games. I remembered dying- twice, I thought. She was there both times. We were together for a reason.

She was there when I died. We were together again. It made sense after I thought about it. I was supposed to remember her because I was supposed to kill her.

* * *

Sarla Mondins- District Five female

It was weird how much older I felt. I'd been through so many Games and died so many times. I learned something every time. I definitely wasn't a kid anymore. My body might still have been a girl's, but after you died three times, your childhood was over. I knew it was over because I wasn't even worried about death anymore. That was the least of my worries.

I wondered if any of my friends were back again. I hoped not. My friends were all young enough that none of us would ever win. I wasn't going to quit, though. The odds weren't in my favor, but I had to keep going. Sometimes you had to do things even though they were hard. That was what separated children from adults.

* * *

Sita Alaya- District Five

I fix broken things. Then I got broken in the Arena, and someone fixed me. That was kind of funny.

 _Well, let's get to work._ I was back in working condition, and this time I was going to stay that way. I hopped out of bed and got dressed while Sky waited outside.

"Are there any other mechanical Tributes like me?" I asked her. "I think maybe I should have some allies this time."

"I think that's the only thing to do with this many Tributes," Sky said. "I'll get together a list and we can go over it."

It was also kind of funny that I was dead yesterday. Oh well. Gone tomorrow, here today.

* * *

Scott Sharpe- District Five male

"Okay, who's ready for the encore?"

You gotta have a sense of humor. When you die and wake up as a science abomination so you can get send back into the death Arena, you gotta have a sense of humor.

Oddly enough, the Games weren't the most dangerous thing I'd been through. Maybe the most dangerous in terms of actual statistics, but my old job wasn't exactly safe either. I was used to walking a fine line between life and death, so another Games didn't bother me as much as it might have. I'd just take it one day at a time and keep my sense of humor.

* * *

Sammy Voltage- District Five female

"So who won?"

I didn't think the weird Survivor Games people would get picked for a Resurrection. But here I was, and after that, my biggest concern was for my old friends.

"Lancia," Sky said, and my heart sank. I liked Lancia, but I had a lot of other friends, too. Then her face broke into a smile.

"Good news, though. It just so happens that the top twelve finishers all lived," she said.

"Who was in the top?" I asked.

"Camellia and Hannah," Sky said.

" _Yes!"_ I leaped up and started jumping on the bed. I didn't even care about the Games anymore. This was even better than winning.

* * *

Kerry Selmosa- District Five male

The light burned my eyes. I hadn't seen light in so long. I'd forgotten there was anywhere in the world that wasn't dark.

I didn't care that I was going back into the Games. I was just happy to be in a hospital room. Anywhere but that Arena. It was still in my head, and it would never be out of my nightmares. That dark, demonic Arena where monsters were real and there was nothing that wasn't evil. I wanted to kiss the fluorescent light hanging over my head. It kept the dark out.

Any Arena they came up with would be better than that one. I'd go into any of their stupid Arenas as long as it wasn't that one again. Nothing could scare me after that.

* * *

Ally Tesla- District Five female

 _Oh my god I'm a vampire._

I sat up in bed and clamped my hand to my neck. I remembered Shinju biting me. I should have been dead. The only reason I wasn't was because I was _undead!_

"Ally, what's wrong?" Sky asked.

"Stay away, I'm a vampire!" I wailed. I jumped out of bed and ran to the wall to examine my neck.

"You're not a vampire," Sky said. She got up and followed me to the wall.

"I am too!" I said. I couldn't see the marks on my neck, but they had to be there.

"You are definitely not a vampire," Sky said. She wasn't even scared. She must have been really brave.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"What are you looking at there?" Sky asked.

"A mirror-" I said. "Oh."

* * *

Cain Pander- District Five

That was it. They got me. They drained all the good nature out of me. No more helping. No more caring. Just anger.

"Did you want to ally with-" Erwin started.

"No," I said as I stomped past him and out the door. I didn't want any cute little allies and I didn't want to help anyone. I was tired of people damaging me. I wanted to do some of my own damage.

This time, I was in it to win. I was in it to win so that when I won, I would be part of the Capitol. I would be in the heart of the nation, right where I could stab it. I'd do whatever I could to take them down and make them suffer as much as we did.

* * *

Totem Sweeney- District Five

I dearly hoped Lyann and Thay were here. They died because I couldn't save them. This time I could make amends, or at least it wouldn't be my fault if they died again. I didn't know if they'd even want me again.

"How long has it been?" I asked Erwin. He was fully decked out in that tattoo he sometimes hid behind. He had a lot of people to watch die this year.

"Just a year," he said.

"Thanks. And you don't have to worry about me or anything," I said. He knew what I meant, and he left.

It had been a year, but I felt a lot older than that. I wasn't the goofy girl-chaser I was before. I still liked girls- like, a lot- but there was a lot more on my mind now. I had a lot of growing up to do. More than a year's worth.


	9. District Six RISE

Mustang Cobalt- District Six male

You win some, you lose some. Sometimes you live, sometimes you die. Usually only once, but it could be worse. I could still be dead. I _was_ dead, but that was the past. You gotta put your past behind you. I was looking toward the future, and in the foreseeable future, I would be alive.

"So I get a second change, do I?" I asked Toby. He didn't answer, as usual. The door opened and a young woman came in.

"Hi. I'm your new mentor, Lancia," she said.

"We won one? Finally!" I said.

"Yeah, I know, right? Anyway, Toby's... not very effective, so I'm pulling double duty," Lancia said.

"More like super-duper triple double duty, probably," I said. There were so many people around I wondered how we'd fit in the Arena.

"Pretty much," Lancia said.

"If I wasn't going back into the Games, I'd feel sorry for you."

* * *

Nairobi Ellis- District Six female

I didn't recognize anything in the room I woke up in. Everything looked different. It was shinier and sleeker- it looked newer somehow.

"Did it take a long time to clean me up?" I asked the doctor who came in. I didn't even remember winning.

"No, not long at all," the doctor said. "Clones come out pretty clean nowadays."

"Clones?" What was he talking about? Was I that damaged.

"Yes, clones," the doctor said, and then his expression changed. "Oh honey, you didn't think you won? This is a Resurrection Games. You're a clone."

My stomach went cold. Everything was new. I didn't recognize anything. It was an entirely new world.

"How long has it been?" My voice quavered.

"You're from the Quell, right?" the doctor asked, and he thought for a minute. "Twenty-four years."

* * *

Volvo Courvaile- District Six male

Blake grabbed my arm. I tore it away from her and launched myself sideways, crossing my arms in front of my face.

"Volvo! It's all right!" a man's voice came. I flopped over and tried to shield my vital organs.

"It's all right!" Blake reached for me again, and I smacked her arm away.

 _Why does Blake have such a deep voice?_

I peeked out between my arms. The ground, which was weirdly soft, was a bed. It wasn't Blake grabbing at me, either. It was a doctor.

"What happened?" I asked. Did I win?

"It's a Resurrection Games," the doctor said.

I didn't care. As long as it wasn't Blake.

* * *

Hemi Sergius- District Six

I was all right. For being dead, I was in pretty good shape. I looked myself over, checking for obvious damage. I wasn't that kind of nurse, but I knew a few things.

"Did Volvo win?" I asked the new mentor.

"No. I'm sorry," she said.

"Is he here?" I asked.

"He's around somewhere," she said. "Do you want to go find him?"

"No, I should get ready first," I said. I needed to gather my thoughts.

What the Capitol was doing here rendered my entire industry redundant. Anyone could live forever now. Not everyone would, though. Only the ones the Capitol picked. _First, do no harm._ I'd never seen anything farther from that.

* * *

Ferrari Benz- District Six female

I knew what was up right away. You don't live through jumping off a mountain. I wasn't cold anymore, though, so that was nice.

"So. It's a Resurrection Games," I said to the new girl, Lancia.

"That's right," she said.

"You probably have a lot of Tributes to mentor. I'm not very easy to teach, so you can focus on them if you want," I said. I wasn't being contrary or stubborn. I just liked to learn things by doing, so it made sense for Lancia to help people who could sit still and listen for five minutes.

 _Wonder who else is here,_ I thought as I got dressed. _Hopefully not Rhoda._

* * *

Sofia Ferrari- District Six female

I died in the Bloodbath. _Fail._

"It wasn't the right Arena for you anyway," Lancia said. "You'll do better in this one."

 _Doubtful._ Not to be a negative Nancy, but to do better than my last placing, I'd have to be in the top quarter of this Games. But there was no need to be pessimistic. _Remember, you can't do any worse!_

"They wouldn't do another indoor one in a row," I said as Lancia and I talked strategy. "I already know about outdoor stuff, so I'm ahead. I should learn more and be _really_ ready."

"Sounds like a plan," Lancia said.

There was something good about dying so early. I barely had any time in the Arena, so I hadn't gotten as damaged as some Tributes. It just felt like I had a false start and now I was _really_ competing.

* * *

Velvet Tek- District Six

 _Yikes. Bambi's probably an old man by now._

He wasn't an old man. He was older than me, but he still looked like the same Bambi. He probably sat in his room all the time reading anyway, so he hadn't aged. He had a bunch of rainbow lilies, just like old times.

"It's good to see you again," he said. Labyrinth nosed at my hand.

"Do you still like me?" I asked.

"Always," he said.

"Did you make that up, or is it from a book?" I asked.

"Both," he said.

"Maybe this time I'll get us a happy ending," I said.

"I hope so," Bambi said. He didn't talk much. I talked enough for both of us.

* * *

Adonia Child- District Six

 _Ew, I died in the Bloodbath._

Why'd they even bring me back? I got myself killed in the _Bloodbath!_ Whatever. _This_ time, I'd do a good job.

"You were a gymnast, right?" the new mentor asked. At least someone in Six wasn't a screw-up.

"Sort of. I was a wing walker," I said.

"I'm a gymnast, too," the mentor said.

"Can you do a front flip?" I asked.

The girl stood up, ran across the room, and did a front flip.

"How about you?" she asked.

I got out of bed and started running. _Hope the cloning didn't mess me up,_ I thought. _Probably should have thought of that before I jumped._

It was a perfect landing. _Yeah! I still got it._

* * *

 **Hey hey hey IvolunteerasAuthor's new SYOT is up! Be sure to check out Reign! I can tell everyone since I already have my submission accepted nyah nyah.**


	10. District Seven RISE

**People in first Resurrection Games: "What the heck I was DEAD? This is metaphysically staggering"**

 **People in third Resurrection Games: "This crap again"**

* * *

Kegn Yuehan- District Seven male

I already felt different in Seven. Being a zombie wasn't going to help. I used to be displaced in location, and now I was displaced in _time._ That wasn't something there was any reference for.

Everything looked less high-tech than I remembered. Had I gone _back_ in time after I died? That was just too weird to think about.

"Good news and bad news," Paul said when he came in.

"What's the bad news?" I asked.

"You died," he said.

"That's it? That's not so bad," I said. Not in a "death isn't a bid deal" way, but an "I already knew that" way. "What's the good news?"

"This Arena probably won't be as weird," he said. I already knew _that,_ too.

Phoenix Hemlock- District Seven male

I didn't know it was possible to hate any more than I already did. When they dragged me out of death just so they could kill me again, I learned I was wrong.

I didn't respond when a nurse came in to check on me. He bent over my bed to read numbers off one of the machines monitoring me. When he peeled back the blankets to check my breathing, I wrapped my arms around his neck. He tried to pull back, but I was too quick. I leaned over the side of the bed and put all my weight against his neck as I twisted. I heard the crack and then he was dead weight.

He didn't have time to call for help, but the cameras captured everything. More people came rushing into my room, pinning me to the bed and sticking me with a needle. I'd be back for the rest of them. All the time in the world wasn't enough for I wanted to do to them.

* * *

Helena Inka- District Seven female

Most people were scared when they went into a Resurrection Games, but I wasn't. I hadn't been scared of anything for a long time. It seemed like other people were able to see things I weren't, and they saw danger when I was oblivious. It didn't do much for my life expectancy, but it made the time I had more enjoyable.

"I should start training," I said when my mentor came to see me. I wanted to get that done with so I could explore the Games building. I knew I had to train so I had a chance, but I also knew that training every minute wouldn't help me after a certain point. Life is short. You can eat right, exercise, work hard, and die anyway. _Or_ you can eat right most of the time, exercise sometimes, work hard when you need to, and goof off a bit. You can die skinny, healthy and miserable at eighty, or you can die fat and happy at seventy.

* * *

Ever Fellows- District Seven

We all saw how the Victors left something behind in the Arena. They were shadows of what they were, and they only went through this once. This was my third time in the Games. Each time took a little more of my soul. They wouldn't be able to do this to me forever. Sometime they'd try and there wouldn't be any soul left to resurrect.

I'd tried to be a good person, even though I had to kill. I made more and more adjustments to my morals until I'd replaced every part and nothing was original. The more good I tried to be, the more I had to lose. This time, I just wanted to get through. I'd already done terrible things. There was nothing left for me to say "well at least I wouldn't do _that"_ and tell myself I was a good person even though I did some bad things. This time, I would do what it takes and get myself through. I wasn't going to make any more excuses. I'd get through the games and then I'd work on forgiving myself.

* * *

May Wilda- District Seven

It was Blake. Crap.

"Crap!" I yelled. I took the glass of water off my bedside table and threw it at the wall, watching as it exploded into shards. I knew I had a temper problem. I _tried_ to keep it under control. But you didn't _die_ every day. _That_ was worth a bit of a _tantrum!_

 _At least I'm not sticky anymore._ I pressed my fingers together and flexed them apart. They didn't do that awful thing where the skin stuck together like webbing for a second. I ran my hands through my hair and actually sighed in pleasure when it wasn't one giant rat tail. That blew my temper away faster than any stupid exercise. I practically hypnotized myself with the simple pleasure of non-clumpy hair. It made dying almost worth it.

* * *

Jasmine Ashenvale- District Seven female

My dad used to tell me stories when I was little. Sometimes they were old stories and sometimes he made them up. There was one series he told about two kittens named Berry and Dot and the little girls, which were me and my sisters. Every once in a while he'd tease us and start the story with "One day, Berry woke up and the little girls were dead. She went to find Jake the dog and he was dead. She tried to ask the birds, and they were dead. She went to Dot and Dot was dead. Then Berry realized _she_ was dead!" Me and my sisters would roll our eyes and he'd tell a real story. I never thought I would actually know what it felt like to wake up and realize I was dead.

I was actually a little embarrassed when Sequoia told me what happened. What a stupid way to die. Me and Amphilia were doing so well and then we got gassed by a maniac. Kudos to Zibby for using what she had, but that sucked. I hoped this Arena was out in the open. I didn't do well in small spaces, but in the wild, I would be unstoppable.

* * *

Violet Robbins- District Seven female

It was so warm in the Capitol. I didn't think it was possible for it to be this warm. I could just swipe my hand above my face, and even the _air_ was warm. It didn't burn me or turn my hands white or freeze my fingers solid. I didn't think I needed anything else in the world to be happy.

I wondered how many other people froze to death. That was a pretty awful Arena. I was scared to go back in, but most of all, I hoped it was somewhere warm. If it was somewhere cold again, I hoped I died in the Bloodbath.

Sequoia said the last Arena was a boat. In that case, this one would probably be outdoors. She also said that the last one was cold, so this one would probably be warm. That was a load off my mind. A warm outdoor Arena was perfect for me. I hoped it had lots of cool bugs.

* * *

Desiree Redwood- District Seven female

We could die over and over and come right back. Death sort of lost a little power after that. I was starting to see that death wasn't the be-all end-all. That gave me an idea.

Obviously, I was a hot item. I'd gotten picked for two Resurrection Games in a row. I couldn't imagine why... _not._ Anyway, it didn't matter why I was popular, only that I was popular. I basically had infinite chances to win. That didn't mean I was going to goof off and sit in the Bloodbath making daisy chains, but it _did_ mean I could take more risks. Risks were the only way to win the Games. You could maybe win by sitting around, like that lucky duck Hades, but for someone like me, risks meant rewards. I could play a little harder this time around. If it didn't work, there would always be next time.

* * *

Jodie Jackson- District Seven

I put up a hand and felt my nose. I was relieved and surprised it was still there. Jayden punched me so hard I _died._ I was worried my face looked like a pancake. It probably did when they brought me in.

 _I was dead. Weird._ But no use dwelling on that. I had to get back on that horse and keep riding. Not that anyone in Seven had ever seen a horse. Get back on that log and keep chopping?

Nassor won my Games. I was glad it wasn't Jayden, which might have been a little petty, but I felt like I deserved it. She was back, but chances were we'd never even see each other. The Tributes this time around practically made up their own District. If I ever _did_ see her, though, I'd... wrinkle my nose and probably squint a little at her. And hope she didn't see.

* * *

 **I quit my job and I'm done with my schoolwork except one final. Time for TURBODRIVE!**


	11. District Eight RISE

Vester Mortana- District Eight male

Why'd they pick me? I'm not good at anything. I cried when I got Reaped. They should have picked Velvet.

 _At least I'm good at climbing._ That will make all the difference. I'll just climb right out of the Arena.

Velvet didn't win either. I thought she might have. That girl had everything planned out. She made me look even dumber than I was.

 _Don't be such a grump._ I knew the facts. I was going to die again. But I had a long time left. There were so many of us, I was bound to last a few days. And I had time to goof off in the Capitol. I'd train. I'd do my best. I'd just know that there was no reason to get all worked up. I'd make the most of the time I had and see where it took me.

* * *

Denim "Denny" Belltide- District Eight male

"You brought me back from the dead?" I asked the doctor fiddling with my pulse.

"That's right," he said.

"Thanks," I said. I got another chance. That was nice. It probably wouldn't work out, but it was nice of them to try. I still didn't like the Capitol, though.

Once the doctors cleared me, I hopped out of bed. I needed to get started training and stuff. First I was going to eat, though. I didn't care for all the sugary treats the Capitolites liked, but I liked the other food. I'd never been able to eat as much as I wanted. I knew it wasn't fair to be grateful when the Capitol could have fed us like this all the time, but sometimes my stomach was bigger than my brain.

* * *

Flannel Twist- District Eight female

I felt like I'd been sleeping for ages. There was so much to get done.

"Can I start training now?" I asked Tillo as I got out of bed.

"I suppose-" she started as I ran out the door.

 _What should I start with?_ I ran to the track and started running down it. I felt like I could do anything- except win the Games, it seemed like. I ran more and more laps, until I was sucking in air and my legs burned. I wanted to go even farther. I wanted to go on forever. I was full of energy, and I wanted to do everything.

* * *

Vanny Chancri- District Eight male

Tillo always seemed so sad. She was looking at me like I was already dead.

"Don't worry," I said. "I'll be okay."

Tillo's expression did not indicate any faith that I would be okay. It was less sadness and more a grumpy condemnation, like she was mad at me for not being good enough so she had to watch me die.

"I know you're supposed to be my mentor, but I think I'm kind of too big a job," I said. "You can focus on the others who might actually win. It's not your fault I'm not very strong."

"I'll be fine," Tillo said. I was surprised she said anything. Tillo was a woman of few words. I did not believe those few words.

* * *

Martha Lewis- District Eight female

I wasn't as scared this time. Nothing was as scary as getting Reaped. Even coming back wasn't as scary as dying. After that, I wasn't sure I'd ever be scared again.

The doctors and nurses came and went, but I didn't say anything. I felt empty inside, like the Arena sucked all my emotions out. Someone once told me that was what depression was like. It wasn't being sad. It was feeling like nothing mattered because there was nothing inside you.

Tillo looked older. She always looked like she was older than she looked- like the inside was a lot older than the outside.

"Do you need anything?" she asked.

I didn't answer. Talking seemed like so much effort. I didn't have the heart to find the words. She left, and everything was quiet.

* * *

Brenna Segale- District Eight female

Jeremy had moved on by now. The ring on my finger was nothing but a memory of a life that never was. I wondered if he'd met someone else. I hoped he had. Someone beautiful and sweet, who would be the wife I couldn't be. I hoped he didn't even notice me among all the faces. I wanted him to be happy without me.

Tillo saw me looking at the ring. "Tough break," she said.

 _What would you-_ I started. I saw the faintest glitter in her eye as I remembered. She lost someone, too. And her someone didn't even have a chance at a happy life.

"Do you ever get over it?" I asked.

"Doesn't seem like I ever get over anything," she said. "It's easier this time. They didn't pick him."

* * *

Eddin Cavitch- District Eight male

 _I died,_ was my first thought.

 _I died and Jamie's gone,_ was my second.

He couldn't wait around for me this long. We had one chance at happiness, and it was gone now. I wouldn't even recognize him if I saw him.

That was the past now. I wasn't ever going to get back to that life. What was gone was gone, like Orpheus found out. All I could do was move forward and remember.

Why did they even pick me? I got crushed on the first day. All they did was remind me of what I lost.

* * *

Alayza Mont- District Eight female

What a rip. I died and now I had to do it all over again.

Well, they had another think coming. They were _not_ going to see me die again. I hope they were watching the first time, because I was not doing it again.

I was going to have to kill a lot of people to get through this one. I wasn't looking for any fights, but there would be some whether I wanted them or not. I wouldn't mind killing the people who deserved it, and the others... you do what you have to do. I had to watch my back, though. I didn't intend to make any allies, and a lot of people out there won't fight fair.

* * *

Cavander Jones- District Eight female

 _Monkey monkeys MONKEYS!_

I sat straight up in bed, clawing and tossing off imaginary monkeys.

"There are no monkeys," Tillo's voice came flatly from across the room.

I checked all around me. She was right. No monkeys.

"This is a Resurrection Games, isn't it?" I asked.

"You got it," she said.

"How long has it been?" I asked.

"About four years," Tillo said.

 _That's not so bad._ There was a chance Brian hadn't moved on. If he had, I hoped he was happy, but if not, we could make this work. I still had a chance, and so did we.

* * *

Blaise Wesley- District Eight male

Another day, another Resurrection Games.

It didn't take me long to find my old homeboys. By this point, Jay must have spent more time as a Tribute than as a non-Tribute. Him and Zach both, since Zach was the oldest of us.

"So, think one of us will win this time?" I asked Logan.

"Nah," Logan said. "Could happen, though."

We didn't have the worst chances. We had some pretty strong members. Things never seemed to work out for us, but we got more people each time. Eventually all the Tributes would be in our alliance, and then one of us would win.

* * *

Ryker Merlin- District Eight male

The odds got worse each time. This time whoever won would be one in a hundred. But it had to be someone, and it might end up being me.

I was through beating myself up. I'd done some bad things, and I'd had a lot of bad things done to me. By now, I must be pretty even. From now on, I could just try to win and spend the rest of my life convincing myself I was all right, like all the other Victors.

As soon as I was out of bed, I went back to the track. I didn't know if I'd still be good at running, since I was a clone. It didn't seem to matter, though. I was as good as ever. Which was good, since that was about all I had going for me.

* * *

Haber Dasher- District Eight female

I was very pleased to hear that Vera and Lancia were now Victors. I was very _dis_ pleased to hear about Hades and Nassor. Hades wasn't that bad, though. Little boys were sometimes still innocent, before society turned them into men.

"No more girls for Eight, after all this time?" I asked when I saw Tillo.

"I'm sure they're sorry they disappointed you," she said.

It didn't matter anyway. I didn't care where the Victors came from, as long as they were girls.

* * *

Silver Flower- District Eight female

 _Haven't these people ever heard of 'rest in peace'?_

Another hundred Tributes, and another ninety-nine dead kids. They were making it pretty hard to keep my faith in humanity.

I had never felt so small and so short as when I lined up with the others to start training with my mentor.

"Who's she?" I heard someone ask.

"Does she even go here?" someone else asked.

"All right, you failures ready to make good this time?"

Pray stalked down the row, glaring at all of us. She reached the end, then realized something was off.

"One of you isn't from Two," she said. I tried to look innocent.

* * *

Zibby Spooly- District Eight

Getting burned to death really hurts. So this time around it would probably go better.

Everyone parted around me whenever I moved around the room where all the Tributes had gathered before we split off with our mentors. _Do I have a booger?_ I thought.

"Hey, are you the Mad Gasser?" some kid I didn't recognize asked.

"I didn't pass-" I started. "Oh. Yeah, guess that's me."

The kid looked at me with a mix of horror and disgust. He scuttled away, peeking over his shoulder at me.

 _Wow. You build_ one _death chamber..._

* * *

Jake Diaz- District Eight male

 _Strike two._

Not that the Capitol seemed to be following normal rules. Some of us had been here three times already. Seemed like they just wanted some particular winners and would keep dragging us back until they got what they wanted.

I'd been fighting in Arenas so long they felt like home to me. I could have done without the graveyard Arena, though. That and that mutt. What even was that thing? Butt-ugly is what it was.

"Hey! What up, dudes?" I asked when I found Jay and the others. "Looks like the gang's back together!"

* * *

 **Why so many people from Eight?!**


	12. District Nine RISE

**When I went to add Cottyn to District EIght, I read "District NIne female" in her form and thought I miscategorized her. Then I went back and that was the name of her submitter. Confusing LOL!**

* * *

Thalia Anderson- District Nine female

I would never get over how much food there was in the Capitol. That, to me, seemed more miraculous than resurrection.

Nine had a Victor since I died. That was nice, but I didn't care as much as most of the people in Nine, since I was dead when it happened. Nassor introduced himself and told me what was going on. After he was done, I excused myself to meet the other Tributes.

 _I didn't know there were this many people in Panem._ I could hardly see the end of the throng of people gathered in the huge room at the end of the hall. There were people of all shapes and sizes, some with crazy costumes and hair straight out of the Capitol. An Avox walking by with a tray caught my eye.

 _Ooh. Snacks._

* * *

Bliss Bete- District Nine female

 _Oh, no. What has become of my family?_

Were Lleh, Jerica, Ooniqye, Panthy, Melan, Vejon, Joop, Derfla, and Phelony okay? All my life I'd been caring for them. They needed me, and I left them. I could only hope my friends took care of them after I was gone. This time, I had to get back to them.

"Thank you very much for taking care of me," I said to the doctors and nurses when I got up. I got dressed carefully and went out to meet the other Tributes. Right away I started looking for little kids. I couldn't help it- I was a mother at heart.

"Hey, I noticed you were looking for younger allies," a middle-sized girl said. "I'm Silver. I think I might have an alliance for you."

* * *

Mia Barnes- District Nine female

"We were really dead?" I asked the doctor.

"Definitely," he said.

"How did you bring us back?" I asked.

"You were cloned," he said.

"How do you know we're the same people?" I asked.

"We cloned you from an original sample taken before your first Games," the doctor said. "We didn't just record your DNA. There is original flesh in your body."

"How did you pick who to bring back?" I asked.

"There was a popularity contest among Capitol voters," he said.

I had a lot more questions after that. About the only weapon any Tribute had was knowledge.

* * *

Autumn Kane- District Nine

"You're not supposed to get up yet," a nurse chided me when I threw back my blankets.

"Well the Capitol isn't supposed to kill kids, but here we are," I grumbled.

"Someone has a lot of sass," the nurse said.

"I'm making up for the years I spent _dead,"_ I said as I reluctantly got back into bed.

"How did your first Games go, anyway?" the nurse asked, making conversation as she checked my joints.

"Okay, until I died," I said. I didn't want to give much away, even to a nurse. It wasn't in my nature. The less people knew about me, the less they had to work with.

* * *

Cooper Woodson- District Nine male

I was the weird one in my alliance. Most of us were a bit on the jock side. Zach was a _mammoth,_ for example. I was... a poet. Not one of those skinny weaselly poets who wore those stupid flat hats and ate nothing but tea, but a poet all the same. Not even a manly poet who wrote about things like chopping wood and living in the wilderness. I liked to write about feelings.

It was funny how the other guys never teased me. When they had arm-wrestling matches or played bloody knuckles, I stayed on the sidelines so I wouldn't die. All the same, I was still one of the guys. Maybe they wanted someone they could say "at least I'm not _that_ weak" about. Maybe they felt better knowing they wouldn't die first. Whatever the reason, we were friends and I was glad for it. Hey, at least I could say "at least I'm not _that_ bad at poetry."

* * *

Tariq Bluegrass- District Nine male

 _Where is everyone?_

I didn't want to be alone. For as long as I could remember, that had been my only thought. Alone meant darkness and rumbling in the night and spiders. If there was anyone else around me, they could tell me there was nothing there. Alone, the spiders would come back.

There were so many people in the big room. Olivier was there, but I didn't want to be with him. If there was no one else I'd take him, but after what he did, I hated him. I hated him, but I didn't want him to leave me. I could find someone else, though. Out of all these people, someone would want to ally with me. I was a good friend. Not like Olivier.

* * *

Miller Thresher- District Nine male

They kept messing things up. I was the obvious winner, and someone in the Capitol kept screwing up.

This time things would be done right. It had been so long that whoever had it in for me would long ago have been fired. Obviously they wanted me to win, since they kept inviting me back.

I was glad to see they'd retained my original body throughout the cloning process. They didn't have to make any improvements, since I was already perfect. My muscular stomach and thick limbs were the envy of the other Tributes. They only wished they were such a perfect example of the male form. They would just have to keep watching and admiring until I was the only one left.

* * *

Cottyn Thimble- Actually from Eight

Something was sticking out of my arm. It went right in there, underneath the skin. It shouldn't have been there, so I pulled on it.

 _AAAAAAOOOOOOOOGAHHHHHH!_

A siren blared as pain shot through my arm. A thin stream of blood sprayed out of my arm as I panicked and tried to shove the tube back in.

A woman came running into the room, opening the door so fast it smacked into the wall. "What did you _dooooo?!"_ she screamed.

 _Wow, hope you don't work in the emergency room,_ I thought. "I pulled this tube," I said as she wrapped a bandage around my arm.

"That's attached to you! Why would you do that?!" she asked.

"Sometimes I don't think things through."

* * *

Jeanie Clay- District Nine female

I knew who I was going to see sitting by the door. I waited a long time before I looked, but eventually I had to do it.

Nassor looked like he wanted to run right back out of the room. He was scrunched up by the side of the door, looking back at me with both guilt and trepidation. Silence hung in the air.

"So. You won," I said.

Nassor caught my calm tone. "Yeah. You don't have to stay with me, though. I can just go."

"It's okay you won," I said. I was actually a little happy. Since he won, that absolved me for trying to kill him. "I think I'll train on my own, though. We have different styles."

"Okay. Thanks," Nassor said, and he was out the door in a flash. _Awkward._

* * *

 **Bliss was originally for a Mary Sue Games. I took her because it was funny. In addition, I shall try to remain neutral on Autumn even though that's the name of the girl who bullied me so badly in third grade that for the next five years I was unable to socialize at all and didn't talk to anyone outside my family. #NotAllAutumns.**


	13. District Ten RISE

**LOL I found Citlali! I had her Games written right in the chapter! I hadn't written her yet because I couldn't figure out where she was from, but I had it right there!**

 **I added a couple of goofs who should have been in the Nine chapter.**

* * *

Citlali Kenyi- District NINE female

I never would have imagined they would pick me for the Resurrection Games. I didn't think anyone would vote for me. Back home, no one even wanted me enough to take me out of the orphanage. I was just another worthless, forgotten orphan. I didn't think anyone even remembered my name. I made it a long way, but I didn't win. Only winners got remembered.

 _I made it all the way to second place._ Maybe I didn't have to think so little of myself. Most people didn't get that far, obviously. All I had to do was improve by one placing and I'd win. There were a lot more people that time, but that was beside the point.

* * *

Elle Kama- District Ten female

Someone was tugging at me and I was in bed.

"Ten coins standard. Six coins mouth. No bareback," I muttered groggily.

"What?" a woman's voice asked.

I opened my eyes and sat up. I wasn't in a squalid motel room. I was in a nice clean hospital, looking at a very confused doctor.

"Sorry. Thought you were someone else," I said. The doctor went back to checking me over as I quietly looked at the ceiling.

Being in the Games wasn't any different than what I did before. Both of us put our bodies on the line for things that were promised a lot more than they were delivered. Some people called me negative, but I thought it was the world that was negative. People who told me to cheer up would be ashamed if they knew what they were telling me to cheer up about.

* * *

Levi Fields- District Ten male

I lay very still when the doctor came in.

"Is this a hospital?" I asked.

"Yes, that's right," he said.

"A mental hospital?" I asked.

"No, just a normal one, though we _do_ have some _interesting_ cases," he said.

I sagged on the bed in relief. There is nothing in the world more dehumanizing than to have people think you're crazy. It's like when someone says you're defensive. As soon as they say it, it's over. There's no way to defend yourself. Once that label is applied, it's there forever.

 _This must be a Resurrection Games._ Unlike most of us, I hoped it had been a long time. I hoped it was so long everyone had forgotten about me. No one knew what they said I did. I was a normal kid again. If that was the case, it made dying worth it. For me, death was a rebirth.

* * *

Eve Martinez- District Ten female

Turns out I was wrong about everything.

I used to be a goody two-shoes. I snuck food to poor people even though my father punished me for it. I was nice to everyone and I thought the world was just this amazing, magical place. If I was in a story, I'd be a Mary Sue.

Not anymore. It took dying to show me the way things really were. Things _sucked._ Life was hard, everyone wanted to kill you, and eventually you died. If that sounded bitter, it was because it was.

Even as cynical as I'd gotten, I couldn't imagine being so evil that I brought kids back from the dead just so I could kill them again. I still wanted to live, just like everyone else they dragged into this. I just wasn't going to do it the "nice" way anymore. I was going to do it the real way.

* * *

Orland Corrado- District Ten

When you fell off a bull, people said one of two things to you. The first was "get back on the bull and keep riding." The other was "Holy crap he's dead." Both of those applied to me.

 _Was that really the Arena?_ I was remembering a literal candyland Arena. That was so stupid. There was no way that really happened.

"Hey, Mati!" I called when I found my District partner among all the undead Tributes. "What was our Arena?"

"...Candyland?" she said, like it was a pop quiz and she was afraid it was a trick question.

"I thought so," I said. I left her looking after me quizzically.

 _It really_ was _candyland._ People in the Capitol are _weird._ At least this one would probably be more normal. Either that or a giant cake.

* * *

Philip Kozlov

I could rest when I was dead. And I _had_ been dead for a long time, so that was enough rest.

"I'm going to start training," I said to Bambi as I left. He had plenty of other people to mentor, and he didn't like big groups anyway. I would listen to what he had to say, but I could also learn from the training instructors.

There were a lot of people this time, but I didn't see Lilei among them. I was glad for her. She got to stay dead. I didn't mind being alive again, but someone like Lilei definitely went to Heaven. She could stay dead and spend all her time drawing and stuff.

The training room was just as I'd left it. Unlike some of the other Tributes, I didn't wake up in a nightmare world thirty years in the future. It was the next Games after mine. That was lucky. I picked a station and started to work.

* * *

Gael Orford- District Ten male

 _If that witch won..._

There was a lot to think about when you died and came back to life. There were philosophical implications I didn't even think I was smart enough to understand. It was really a cool scientific problem, but I was a little more selfish in my concerns. Science was cool, but I mostly cared about how it affected me. And most of all, there was one thing I had to find out.

"How are you feeling?" Bambi asked when he came to see me.

"Did Rahina win?" I asked.

"No, it was Lancia," he said.

I felt a surge of vindication and started to get out of bed.

"She's alive though."

 _)$* & *^!_

* * *

Ethel Bulhera- District Ten

Well, I couldn't do worse than last time. I might not win, but I would probably do better than last time.

Honestly, I wasn't sure why they brought me back. I was a nice enough girl, but I wasn't exactly Victor material. I'd do my best, but I expected they would be disappointed.

There were lots of other Tributes my age and skill level when I went out to meet the others. I expected a stronger group. We must have been picked for enjoyment and not practicality. _Wow, that sounded really creepy._

I didn't even know where to start. I had to find the magic combination of skills that would let me beat out a hundred other Tributes all looking for the same thing. One of us was going to find it.

* * *

Mati Berlin- District Ten female

I thought I'd die in the Bloodbath. It wasn't that I was pessimistic. I sort of had this vague thought that I would probably die early but it was okay because I'd get better later. Here I was all better, so I was right.

"Hey, it's Mati!" Zach said when he saw me. All the boys gathered around, cheering and slapping my back playfully.

"Our alliance just got _way_ prettier," Jay said.

"I dunno, Austin's kind of pretty," Logan said. Austin blushed, and Logan added, "See, his cheeks are so _rosy."_

"Now we don't have to eat rocks," Zach said.

"If _I_ cooked rocks, they'd taste good," I boasted. And as far as cooked rocks went, they _would._

* * *

Lyann Levett- District NINE female

All that work and I was back to square one. _Farther_ than square one, since there were so many more people this time. My odds were so low as to be practically nonexistent. But really, that was how things were before, so nothing changed.

There were so many people in the big room I didn't know how anyone could find anyone. It took me ages to find either of my old allies.

"Hey, Totem!" I called. "I was hoping you won."

As soon as Totem saw who was calling him, his face went white. He tried to escape into the crowd, but I caught up to him.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Aren't you mad?" he asked. "I let you die."

"You tried to find the keys, right?" I asked.

Totem sagged in relief. "I thought you thought I left you," he said.

"We both knew that wasn't it. There just weren't any keys, were there?" I asked.

"No," he said. "I looked everywhere."

"I knew it," I said.

* * *

Xegon Samuel- District NINE male

 _This isn't what the book said._

However Heaven was supposed to look, it wasn't like this. And despite some people's opinions, I knew I hadn't gone the other way. That left one alternative.

 _So this is what a Resurrection Games is like._ My father always hated them. He called them blasphemous. Usually I would take that with a grain of salt, but he was right about this one. There was something tremendously immoral about having the power to reverse death and using it solely to kill people twice.

The common room was packed when I went out to see who all was fighting. I could barely move, and Tributes crowded around me on all sides. I couldn't help but notice, despite my strict upbringing, that some of them were women, and some of them were somewhat attractive. I stiffened when one of the girls brushed past me and I accidentally touched her leg. I wanted to apologize, but she was gone before I could. I didn't know how to feel about that.


	14. District Eleven RISE

**Like someone commented, I think I had Elle Kama down twice under two different surnames.**

* * *

Potato Springfield- District Eleven male

If you throw a chunk of potato into the ground, you get another potato, and I always thought that was beautiful. Now I was part of that beauty. A whole bunch of chunks of me went into the ground, and now I was a whole potato again. I only wished all the other chunks of me grew into more potatoes.

"Hey, it's Potato!" Sammy said when she found me in the big room. "Remember me?"

"Sammy," I said. I saw someone else from before and pointed. "Charming."

"Yeah, he's here, too," Sammy said. "He didn't even die."

There was something from before I remembered- something Sammy and Camellia taught me. I searched my brain and found it.

"Charming... is... a butthead."

* * *

Soya Tores- District Eleven female

This was not good. I had to go through the Games again. I didn't have a chance in a normal year, and this year was five times as bad. I saw Filly in the crowd and made my way over.

"Hey, Filly! You didn't win either?" I asked.

"No. I made it pretty far, though," he said. "You still want to be allies?"

"Definitely," I said. I needed all the help I could get. "Have you seen Lilei?"

His face fell. "She's not here," he said.

"Maybe it's better," I said.

"Maybe it would have been better for all of us," Filly said.

"Maybe. But at least now we can try," I said.

* * *

Olivier Fowler- District Eleven male

Two things I knew. The first was that there _was_ magic in the world and I was never going to forget that again.

 _Encore, encore,_ I thought. It's not every magician who gets called back twice for more. I definitely had to put on a good show. I might should have been more nervous about going back into the Arena. I probably _was_ deep down-. I just didn't think dwelling on it would change anything. I learned long ago that there was very little in life I could control.

 _That's one thing,_ I thought. And what the other thing I knew?

I definitely was _not_ allying with Tariq again.

* * *

Vextrix Webb- District Eleven female

I was actually really happy to learn that Frankie won. I was still mad at him for killing me, especially since we were District partners, but it was good to have him out of the Arena. In a scary Arena like last time, he was almost unstoppable. In _any_ Arena with this many people, it was going to take forever to get to the end. He was the only one that wouldn't undergo mental strain, and that was a huge advantage. This time, it was just us normies.

 _What's Eleven even like anymore?_ So much time had gone by. Everything was probably automated. We wouldn't even need workers anymore. Maybe everyone sat around and just watched machinery. That would be amazing. It also wouldn't be Panem. More likely we had the technology to do just that and didn't. Just like we could bring people back to life and only ever did for more Games.

* * *

Hoban Tam- District Eleven male

 _Every time._

Could they just cut the crap? Vextrix was the interesting one. I was the one who was Vextrix's friend. I wasn't going to win, or I would have done it already. Like so many other Tributes this time around, I was Bloodbath fodder. Gotta have a good Bloodbath, right? Make sure to bring back lots of stupid Tributes so you can have a good Bloodbath!

 _Oh well._ There's more to life than not dying. Maybe I couldn't win the Games. Maybe I _could_ and I was just wrong. Either way, I wouldn't focus on that anymore. I'd focus on staying alive as long as I could. _That_ I could do, obviously. I wouldn't think about the finish line until I was about to step across it. Anything could happen. Someone who wasn't a Tribute could get struck by a falling meteor any time. One day at a time was all any of us had.

* * *

Zinnia Fraser- District Eleven female

Who did Silver think she was fooling, anyway?

That wasn't exactly accurate. Who did Silver think she was _saving,_ anyway? We all died anyway, every time. There was a reason we were long shots. Some of us (not naming any names, _Silver_ ) weren't even shots.

 _But we still go on, don't we?_ That probably meant something about the human spirit or something deep like that. I wouldn't know. Despite all this time, I was only twelve years old. I always _would_ be twelve years old. Time went by, and I stayed the same. That probably meant something, too, but again, twelve years old. All I knew was that, like most other kids, I liked to win.

* * *

Anise Haeffele- District Eleven female

Do angels die?

Alice and Mouse thought I was an angel. I wasn't so sure, but I sure seemed to last as long as one. Maybe angels were just people, or maybe people could become angels. In Panem, angels had to be in short supply.

I was one of the few who didn't want to win. If I won, I would never be able to enjoy it. I would spend the rest of my life thinking of the ones who didn't and wondering which one of them was the one who would have lived if I hadn't taken their place. There are things worth more than life. There are a _lot_ of things worth more than life. Life is a bonus, not the goal. A person only lives a hundred years, but what they did is forever.

* * *

Zach Connouis- District Eleven male

Sometimes I felt like a side character in my own life.

It just seemed like I wasn't the hero of the story. I'd never heard anyone talk about the cool or handsome Tribute Zach Connouis. I heard people talk about my alliance, since we were a large alliance and had a lot of strong men. They talked about Blaise and Logan because they were in gangs, and they talked about Jay and Austin since they were brothers. I seemed to be the leftover. Always the funny friend, never the main character.

That wasn't all bad. The main character gets all the challenges, since he's the one that develops. The sidekick can be funny and goofy and irresponsible. He's the one the hero contrasts with. I could be the funny, goofy one. Sometimes in a story, the hero dies. The comic relief? Never.

...Except maybe twice.

* * *

Grayn Messiel- District Eleven male

There were too many people in this room.

Everywhere I went, there were people. I tried to get out of someone's way and moved into someone else's way. I tried to sit down and almost sat on someone else. I tried to leave and had to wade through the line of Tributes already trying to leave.

 _Who's idea was this?_

Someone done screwed up. More Tributes meant more drama, but there had to be a line. No one could even remember all these Tributes. Some Tributes were going to die and no one would even know they had been in the Games in the first place. This was just a teeming sea of humanity. What did they say? One's a tragedy, a million is a statistic? There wouldn't be any emotion this time. Everybody was just another face in the crowd.

* * *

Daria Junius- District Eleven female

Life is as good as you make it. You can sit around and mope because you got killed, or you can be happy you got to live twice. I didn't care _how_ bad the world was. It wasn't going to get me down.

"Surprise! I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me," I said when Orchard came in to see me.

"You're in a good mood," she said, and she smiled. She didn't smile much, so that made me happy.

"Always," I said.

There were a lot of other Tributes. That was good and bad. There was more competition, but there were also a lot of weaker people that I could outrun in the Bloodbath. I wasn't _all_ sunshine. I had a brain, too. Even as I greeted the other Tributes, I was calculating which ones I should stay away from and which ones I'd want between me and the Careers. After all, life is as long as you make it.

* * *

Jay Dallas- District Eleven male

Austin said I acted like a general. In that case, I was a pretty crappy general. Twice I led an army, and twice we all died. _Third time's the charm!_

The others didn't stay with me because I was a leader. I _was_ the leader of the group, but that was just because I kind of fell into it and none of the others wanted to. We stayed together because we were friends. We had a weird sort of life thrown together in the games. Half a dozen boys from all across Panem lived a series of adventures a few weeks at a time. I never would have met them if it wasn't for the Games. Fighting in the Games gave me the best friends of my life, and dying so many times made me a man. Thanks to the Resurrection Games, a lost generation of children was growing up in the Arena. We were some sort of sociological study. Pretty soon we'd have our own culture.

 _That sounds like something Austin would talk about._ He always was more philosophical than me. Maybe he woke up and started thinking about tactics...

* * *

Austin Dallas- District Eleven male

It's really weird to be in the Games with your brother.

There had been sibling pairs before, and we weren't the only pair this time. No one else could know what it was like to be a Tribute, and no one else could know what it was like to be a sibling pair. Jay and I were together to the end, even if one of us died. Some siblings weren't close enough to die for each other, but after all we'd been through, we were. Even more than our other allies, we trusted each other and had each others' backs. Each of us wanted to live, but each of us wanted the other to live more.

The worst thing of all would be to be in the final two with him. I'd already gone through it, and I knew what had to happen. Both of us would want the other to win. Someone had to give. People thought the hardest thing in the world was to give up your life, but really the hardest thing was to give up your death. The brother who died would be a hero. The one who lived would be the one who spent the rest of his life regretting that he let his brother die. I knew which of us it had to be, too. All people want to be heroes, but Jay wanted it more. It was in his heart from the start. I'd always known it. If it came down to that final two, I had to make the final sacrifice and let Jay die. That was the worst thing of all.

* * *

 **I promise not everyone hates Charming XD Potato doesn't even dislike him, he just got taught to say that by Camellia and Sammy. Most of the Tributes are totally neutral towards him. The squeakier wheels just tended to talk more. I just thought I should say that so he doesn't lose popularity unfairly, since this is a voting Games (more info on that after the Twelve chapter)**


	15. District Twelve RISE

**Y so many Twelves tho?**

* * *

Anthra Mine- District Twelve

The man's arm was right above my head. I turned my face away and tensed as I shut my eyes.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt you?"

I opened my eyes and shook my head, still tense. What kind of question was that?

"Are you cold? Hot? Hungry?" the man asked.

I shook my head, shaking a little. I wished he'd just start hitting me. This was even worse.

"Can't you talk?" he asked.

"I can talk," I said.

The man picked up a sheaf of papers by my bed. _Anthra Mine: Medical History,_ it read. He started to read through it. Halfway through, he started to cry.

"I'm so sorry, darling," he said, and he pulled me into his arms like a baby. After a minute, I snuggled into him.

* * *

Jason Hendrix- District Twelve male

It's weird they picked anyone from Twelve. We're kind of the armpit of Panem. The Capitol doesn't want to admit we exist. We're gross, smelly, poor, uneducated, and everything they want to distance themselves from. Well, maybe not the uneducated part. Capitolites are a pretty brainless bunch. They can't even blame it on not having any schools.

I made it pretty far last time, but this is an entirely different game. The dynamics are completely unlike our past experience. In a normal Arena, we have to worry about surviving the elements. This time, we have to worry about just plain not having enough space. The Bloodbath would be a stampede. The leading cause of death wouldn't be Careers- it would be _trampling._ Maybe it was good to come from Twelve. We always did get forgotten.

* * *

Aurora Evergrove- District Twelve female

People describe me as friendly, outgoing, and logical. Why am I describing myself? Because there are about 500 Tributes this time and I want people to be able to remember which one is me.

 _Well, sponsors are out._ They had half a District to divide their money between. They weren't going to pick me. I was all right, but nothing special. I was on my own, like most of us. Nothing but me, my friendliness, my outgoing nature, and my logic. One of those three was useful.

Maybe I should get some allies. Blah blah, threads twisted together are harder to break. Then again, chains are only as strong as their weakest link. Why is it so many proverbs cancel each other out?

* * *

Field Evergreen- District Twelve male

As soon as I woke up, I got out of bed. I can rest when I'm dead. I got stuff to do.

 _All right, what's the plan?_ Last plan didn't work out too well, since I did. This time, I'd do things differently. There were a few things I knew right away. First, I wanted some allies. In this group, no one was safe along. I didn't want to wait around and see what happened. I wanted to start rounding up allies and see what I could make.

Did they think they were doing us a favor, having these repeat Games? When I thought about it, they sort of were. They dragged us back with faint hopes of living, but it meant no one else had to get Reaped. No one new died this year, only people who already had. I wasn't sure about the metaphysics of that, but I was happy for the kids who would otherwise have gotten Reaped. They better appreciate this.

* * *

Aspen Imense- District Twelve male

When the doctor came in, I closed my eyes and laid low. I heard her putzing around, and then she made a little noise.

"Where did I put that?" she asked. She was looking for her fancy computer pad. How did I know that? Because I stole it. I pressed it flat to my stomach so it wouldn't make a lump in the blankets.

There wasn't really any reason to steal a computer pad. I probably could have gotten one if I'd asked. It was just so shiny and it was right there. It was so easy to just take it. I was never good at not doing things I shouldn't do. Sometimes you just want to, you know?

I stuffed the pad in my pants when I went out to meet the others. Once I got to my real room, I could stash it somewhere. Before the Games started, I could steal a lot of stuff. There was so much stuff in the Capitol. Maybe I could even steal the victory.

* * *

Dayley Harrvis- District Twelve male

"Really? It was Hades?"

 _Good on him!_ It would have been better if _I_ had won, but I was glad it was one of the pee-wees. So many people thought you didn't have a chance if you weren't at least fifteen. We might have had a lot smaller chance, but we weren't out of it.

 _See, anything can happen!_ If Hades could win, I could too. No one would see it coming. People thought someone our age couldn't win. They'd _really_ think we couldn't win twice in a row. I'd sneak right under the radar because of my age and because of Hades. No one would think to kill me. Why waste energy on a pee-wee?

* * *

Kuma Swain- District ELEVEN male (oops)

It was all coming together. I had a real job. We would have finally had enough money to really live on. My mother could stop running herself ragged trying to provide for us. My sister could stop stealing things- not that she would. We could have had a real life. Then I got Reaped.

That was all past now. I wouldn't even recognize my mother if I saw her now. I knew it was hopeless, but I hoped she didn't know I'd been revived. My sister was probably in jail by now. I had nothing at all. I was just a Capitol token moved around for a bunch of fat cats' enjoyment.

Shane won my Games. By default, I was happy. He was less of a Career than Rhoda, so I was happy it was him and not her. That was so long ago he probably barely remembered me. He was seven years older than he was then. It was eerie glimpsing him in the hall.

 _I have nothing now._ But that carried with it one good thing. I had nothing to lose.

* * *

Nash Forger- District Twelve male

"Do you have a lot of people to mentor?" I asked Nubu.

"I guess. A lot of them don't have much more to learn from me," he said.

"When you have time, can we hang out?" I asked. "Like, see the Games building and stuff?"

 _You should probably train,_ Nubu would have said, if it had mattered. He knew my fate, and so did I. That was why I didn't say _since I don't have a chance._ I knew it, but I couldn't bear to make him hear it.

Not everyone gets a long life. It's not okay, but it's the way things are. I had a few weeks in the Capitol before I died. I could waste my time training and pretending I could kill someone, or I could spend my time with Nubu, the coolest mentor ever. We could do a lot of cool stuff before I went.

* * *

Smudge Kells- District Twelve female

 _Where is everyone?_

Dove wasn't here. I hoped she won. It was warm in the Capitol. There was lots of food, too. That was nice.

"This is a rssrrekshon Games," Nubu said. I didn't know what that big word meant. "You're going back into the Arena," he said.

 _What? Why?_ But there was no use questioning the Capitol. You just did what they said.

"Can we have lunch?" I asked.

Nubu smiled. "You're already hungry?"

"Always hungry," I said. That wasn't exactly true. I wasn't always hungry, but I always liked to have food. If I could just sit in a room with food, I'd be happy my entire life.

* * *

Gadeloth Grimsley- District Twelve male

More than a hundred Tributes? _More than a hundred people to kill?_ Jackpot. This was worth dying. Since I died partially because of my own ineptitude, you might even say I was my own victim. Dang, I was good.

A lot of the other Tributes were goody two-shoes. That left more people for me to kill. The do-gooder alliance, for example. All those pretty, sweet girls banding together in one convenient group so I could kill them all at once. I was going to scatter them like a cat scattered birds.

* * *

Alinta Fintan- District Twelve female

Okay, those first two times didn't work out so well. There's always a few kinks along the way. This time things would be good. Besides, I gave as good as I got last time. I didn't see Beth anywhere among all the Tributes. Know why? I killed her so hard they couldn't even bring her back.

I hoped the Arena wasn't as creepy, though. Not that anything could be that creepy. I could take a lot, but that was stretching it.

 _Wonder what Silver's up to._ Silver, Anise, all the old friends. No doubt by now she had even more waifs and hard cases recruited. Eventually one of us would win just by odds. Hopefully me.

* * *

Vesper Lynd- District Twelve

A gold-digger who was dead so long none of her sugar daddies even remembered her. I was so screwed.

Literally my only chance had been sponsors, and they didn't even come through last time. I starved to death while they didn't even throw me a crust. I'd always known in my heart that I was nothing but a toy to them. It was a business. I provided companionship, they provided comfort. We both knew what we wanted and we both came out happy. I just didn't see, until it happened, how worthless I was to them. They couldn't even toss a crust of bread to their little bauble.

 _I'm all on my own._ If I got out of this, it would be because of me. Looks and charm didn't mean anything. When I got out of bed, I didn't even look in the mirror. I walked to the training room, picked up a knife, and got to work.

* * *

Tatiana Kokolo- District ELEVEN female

The pack was gone. I'd been gone so long, they would all be gone by now. I was a lone wolf. Not in a tough, I'm-so-cool "lone wolf" way. I was a wolf without a pack. You know what happens to wolves without packs? They DIE.

I needed new allies. Very few people understood what I was, but among all these Tributes, someone would. There might even be someone else like me. A lot of Tributes acted like animals. Someone out there had to _be_ one, like me.

But how to find out? If I waltzed out there and started howling, people would just look at me like I was an idiot. It was a very delicate process finding other therians. It was as delicate as finding and solidifying your place in a pack.

* * *

Aliara Bavier- District Twelve female

 _Beaten out by_ Rahina. Couldn't it have been literally anyone else?

Dying in the Games was bad enough normally. One person either didn't like you or, more likely, just wanted to stay alive. I had to live with the knowledge that multiple people deliberately voted for me to die. It wasn't just a scattered vote that fell my way. People _conspired_ to get enough votes to kill me. Some of them were here again today. I also had to live with the fact that I also voted.

Finally, I had to live with the fact that Zelena had moved on by now. It wasn't every day you found someone like that. It was once in a lifetime. Even a lifetime as long as mine.

* * *

Peach Unk- District Twelve female

 _Why'd they even take me back?_ I wasn't exactly "grateful", or "not rebellious". I was a mess. I wasn't pretty or sweet or cute. I could understand them taking back the cute little pug Tributes. I was a mean, slobbery bulldog Tribute. Not exactly Capitol style.

But if they want to give it, I'll take it. I'll take everything they offer, just so they don't have it. I wouldn't be spiteful with most people, but they deserved it.

 _Well, let's see what the flower power girls are up to._ If I was back, the rest of the alliance would be, too. I wasn't the one the Capitol wanted to win, but I was the one with the best chance. In either case, I'd probably outlive them all again. I was both always and never a survivor.

* * *

 **First order of business: Woot woot all the Reapings are up! I probably missed someone. If so, I will add them next chapter.**

 **Second order of business: Kvasir296 made a super cool story about all the reader Victors in my universe duking it out in another Arena together, so everyone go check it out! It's called Kings Don't Live Forever.**

 **Third order of business: I'm putting up my Survivor/HG collab so we can start organizing Tributes! It's under Survivor Games: Season Two (it might change if the others want. This is just a working title)**


	16. Leftovers and Start

**Here's the peeps I missed! Also I read the note on Daria and will make sure to remember that. The new Tributes are harder for me at first since, obviously, I'm not as familiar with them. I don't exactly have a system for weird Games years like 100 on, since this is the 49th in this universe. In general when I get Tributes from other universes, my explanation is that in this universe, they died in a pre-23rd Games, so that's why I mentioned Orchard.**

 **I only had a few new people, so I added some actual POVs. I finished a huge list of everyone so I could start checking off POVs as I give them. The only ones checked off are Denim and Helena, since the rest are intros.**

 **I skipped the stylist chapter because these people have all seen stylists before and it's just going to be a super long fic in general so I wanted to move things as fast as possible.**

* * *

Shui Steiner- District TWO male

Apparently I took a little longer to clone. That seemed weird- I would have thought all clones would take the same amount of time. Anyway, I was a little late. It was also apparent that that was very interesting news for Ember.

"Shui! They _did_ pick you!" she screamed as she threw open the door and ran into the room.

"Hold on! I'm not dressed!" I said, and I pulled the blanket up under my chin so it wouldn't tig down when she sat on it.

"I thought I was never going to see you again," she said. It wasn't often I saw tears in my strong Career sister's eyes.

 _Just don't get too used to it._ There were two kinds of people in Panem: those who won and those who died. "Intellectuals" weren't valued here, especially the ones smart enough not to be controlled. This wasn't my game. All I could do was cheer her on.

* * *

Dylan Aquarias- District FOUR male

This was one of those Resurrection Games. That meant I was a clone. I tried an experiment.

"P-p-p-pardon me?"

 _Why?! They cloned my_ stutter!

"Yes, do you need something?" the nurse asked.

"Never mind." I waited for her to make a comment, but she went back to checking things. I should have known a nurse has seen lots worse than a stutter.

 _I suppose they expect me to be grateful._ They had another think coming. If they'd just brought me back I might be a little appreciative, even though they were the ones that killed me in the first place. But bringing me back to fight again was just an insult. It didn't earn them any points with me. It just made me more eager to piss them off.

* * *

Alder Peacebrook- District Twelve

 _I was born to the mayor's mistress, who was from the Capitol. No one could find out about the relationship, so I was abandoned at the edge of the District. A passing herb gatherer found me and named me after the plant he was gathering. I learned all about medicine from him, and later I used it to save my mother's life when she got lost in the woods on the way to see my father. After that, they confessed I was theirs and brought me to live in their mansion._

Even when I was just talking to myself, I still made up stories. My real life and my real mother were just so boring. There was nothing worth seeing in the real world. Nothing was as it should be. That was why I made up lies and didn't listen when my mother told me to mind my elders. Just take a look at the elders in Panem! If we all did what the president wanted, this country would be even worse than it already was.

* * *

Helena Inka- District Seven female

A lot had happened since I died. The Games went on and progressed without us. There were new trends, new technologies, changes in staff... we had a lot of learning to do. But in order to do that learning, I needed learning fuel.

 _Room Service,_ the nook in the wall by my bed read. I looked over the options and picked a few from every category: corn chips, potato chips, nacho chips, tortilla chips, chocolate chips, chocolate chip cookies, cookie dough ice cream, hot pretzels, and lots more. I turned on the television wall and started watching replays, stopping periodically to retrieve the food as it arrived.

Some Tributes would get intimidated watching so many people die. Since I had a chunk of brain missing, I didn't care. I watched people get eaten by octopuses and gassed and frozen and curled up by a swirly plant. I didn't know there were that many ways to die in the world. The only way I didn't see was old age.

 _This really isn't so bad._ I had all the food I could want, which was more than most people in Panem could say. It was really weird being basically on Death Row, but we all die someday. I wouldn't be scared of it until it happens, and probably not even then. I had time to prepare and maybe a chance to avoid it, or at least put it off awhile.

"Helena?" Sequoia asked as she opened the door and peeked in.

"I'm right here," I said.

"What are you up to?" she asked.

"Watching all the Games I missed. Want to watch some with me? I have snacks," I said.

Sequoia took a seat next to me on the floor and grabbed some chips.

"I remember him," she remarked when a Seven boy came on the screen. "I remember that, too," she said when he got himself killed by a Career. "Don't do that."

* * *

Denim Belltide- District Eight male

 _Come on, Denim, you can do it._

The mace lay on the table in front of me. I could see how heavy it was. Its bulky weight seemed to press down into the table, denting the metal. It made me nervous just looking at it.

 _You have to be able to defend yourself._

That wasn't a defense weapon. No one got jumped in an ally and yanked out a mace. That was a killing weapon. It was made to smash into someone's head and see the brains ooze out like pasta sauce.

I picked up the mace. It was even heavier than I expected, and I almost dropped it. I raised it over my head and imagined that much weight crashing into another human being, and I imagined doing it on purpose. I didn't want to be that kind of person. There was no way around it, though. I also didn't want to be a dead person.

 _No one's going to win this for you but yourself,_ I thought as I drew the mace back with both hands. I ran at a mannequin before I could think better of it and crashed the mace into its chest. There was a soft _pifft_ as the fabric squished in under the blow. On a mannequin, the chest puffed right back out. On a person, a chest didn't heal so easily. I looked at the damage and took it in.

 _All right. I hit something. That's enough. I can go to the survival stations now._

* * *

 **Voting stuff:**

 **This time, I have some additions, since last time I missed some very important things!**

 **Once the Games start (and I'll have another vote before that to plan the Bloodbath), submitters can vote for those they want to live and those they want to die after each chapter. Votes can be done each chapter in case opinions change. If someone can't be here for every chapter, since I write so fast, they can tell me who they want to vote for and I'll keep the votes the same as needed. There are so many Tributes that one life and one death won't be enough, so I'll tell people how many to vote and I'll mention when the numbers change.**

 **I like readers who didn't submit to still be able to participate, so I allow them to vote. HOWEVER, I see now that my old system was NOT sufficient! THIS TIME, non-submitters can still vote and they'll get as many picks as the submitters, BUT their votes will count as 1/5 of a submitter vote. A max of ten non-submitter votes for each Tribute will be counted, meaning non-submitters can count for a max of two votes for or against a Tribute. If I need to change that number as the voting gets closer, I will.**

 **How votes work: Generally, you can only use one vote on one Tribute. You CAN, however, strategically withhold votes. You can't use three votes for one Tribute, but you CAN use one vote on a Tribute and not vote for anyone else so that the vote has more weight. The one exception is that at any time, a submitter may cast infinite votes for one of their own Tributes, killing them. Some submitters have characters they would prefer to win over other characters they made, so this is to let them communicate that to me.**

 **Votes can be either PM or review. PM is WAY better from a practical standpoint because it's anonymous and you won't get hate mail for it. I won't stop you from reviewing votes and I'll count ones I get, but do yourself a favor and PM if you don't want a lynch mob.**

 **Making decoy accounts to get more votes: No! I honestly don't think anyone's ever deliberately done that and I don't think you will. If any stinker was to try to do that and ruin things for the rest of us, that's another reason I put the non-submitter 1/5 rule into place.**

 **I think that's everything but I probably forgot something, in which case I will add it next time.**


	17. Parade

**I almost forgot the parade again!**

* * *

Polyphemus Ignotus- Parade Announcer

"Good morning, everyone, and welcome to a very special Hunger Games Parade! This is no ordinary year, of course. This is a Resurrection Games, and a special Games deserves a special parade! I don't know what we have in store for us, but I'm excited to find out!"

"Oh my! We're off to an amazing start right away! The One chariot is rolling in, pulled not by horses, not by elephants, but by _peacocks!_ There must be fifty peacocks bridled in pairs, working together to pull the thirteen Tributes. The chariot is modeled to look like a jewelry box, and naturally each of the Tributes is covered in a different jewel. There's onyx for Onyx, ruby for Ruby, jade for Jayden, diamond for Charming, and a different gem for each of the others. I don't even know the names of all of those!"

"As is often the case, the Two stylists have emphasized the military nature of Two instead of its other industry. Their chariot is a tank, and it's drawn by four rhinoceroses. The Tributes standing triumphantly atop the tank are dressed in military regalia from all over history, some of them carrying out mock battles. Shui is less enthusiastic, and he's just trying not to get knocked off the chariot."

"Three's chariot is not being pulled by anything, because it is a hovercraft. The Tributes inside are covered with varying degrees of metallic paint and artificial augmentations, making them into an army of cyborgs. Sparkil seems less than pleased, since they just left her the way she was."

"How are they going to get aquatic animals to pull a chariot? Oh, that's how. Walruses. Four's chariot- more accurately, Four's giant fish tank- is _slooooowly_ making its way down the aisle as the Tributes splash and cavort in the water. We appreciate not only the creativity, but the _very_ flattering swimwear."

"Why... why is Five's chariot pulled by platypuses? Hold on, there's a sign on the side of the chariot, which is shaped like some power generator thing I don't know anything about. ' _Platypuses generate electricity, okay? It was this or electric eels'._ This _is_ a hard District, so we'll give it to them. The Tributes seem to be dressed as various forms of energy, from Scott's elegant wind turbine outfit to Totem's less elegant shirt which says 'hydroelectric power' on it."

"Did I just hear a whistle? Of course I did, becomes here comes the train! Not content with one chariot, Six instead has a train front and then a train car for each Tribute, one after another all the way down the aisle. The eight Tributes wear conductor outfits as they shovel coal into the engines. As wonderful as that is, I'm glad I'm way up here, because I can see people in the front rows coughing."

"What would Seven's chariot be? A fallen tree, of course, pulled by twelve slender deer. Eight lovely woodpeckers perch upon it. Some, like May, are hunkered down so they don't fall off. Others, like Jodie, enthusiastically peck at the wood and flap their wings."

" _What the fffhhhgahhhh!"_ (Feedback squeals and a huge thump comes from the microphone)

"Sorry, folks. I just wasn't ready for that. Here I was wondering how any animal could represent Eight. The stylists are both more imaginative and braver than I, since they remembered the legend of Arachne. I was _not_ prepared to see four gigantic muttation spiders each carrying a corner of a giant tapestry in their... mouths? Pinchers? I am currently hiding under my desk so I can't see the Tributes, but from the bit I saw, they were huddling in terror in the center of the tapestry, and they seemed to just be wearing different kinds of cloth."

"I don't know about you, but _I_ am ready for Nine. No spiders here, just nice, gentle donkeys pulling a nice, normal plow. I don't recognize all the costumes the Tributes are wearing, but I would guess those are all different kinds of grain. They all look the same to me, and most of them _taste_ the same. Just not whatever _pumpernickel_ is made from."

"Of course Ten has cows pulling its hay wagon chariot. At least that means the Tributes can't be dressed as cows. Philip is a horse- that's a strange animal to ride a hay wagon- Elle, Eve, and Ethel are sheep, Lyann and Levi are pigs, Orland and Gael are chickens, Xegon is a goat, and Mati is a duck. They're all making the correct noises, so this has been the loudest of the chariots."

"Eleven's chariot is pulled by... monkeys? I guess monkeys pick fruit sometimes... The chariot is in the shape of a cornucopia, and the Tributes are dressed as... fruit! Potato is a potato, and he's _very_ happy about that. Soya is a soybean- okay, I guess some of these are vegetables. Anise is a star anise, Olivier is a banana, Vextrix is a peach, Hoban is a pear, Zinnia is a zucchini, Grayn is wheat, Zach is an eggplant, Daria is a pomegranate, Tatiana is a lemon, Kuma is a fig, and Jay and Austin are kiwis. I'm getting hungry just looking at it."

"That is a lot of moles. There must be three hundred moles all around Twelve's mining cart chariot, tethered with tiny leashes. They trying bravely to move the heavy chariot- at least some of them, while others try to scatter in all directions- but it is in vain. Twelve is stalled at the end of the aisle, its miner Tributes stranded. After a minute with no movement, Peach shakes her head in disgust, gets off, and starts pushing. The others follow, trying not to trample moles, and the chariot limps down the aisle."

"Well, there were some good times and there were some bad times. All of them were memorable times. I couldn't have asked for a more spectacular parade, and I'm sure the Games will be just as good and just as surprising."

* * *

 **Well _that_ started strong and ended with a whimper.**


	18. Big Fat Long Chapter

**Just trying to get some POVs out of the way so I can get to the Games faster!**

* * *

Bliss Bete- District Nine female

Silver's alliance was just perfect for me. I loved all the little children, and Ferrari was _so_ interesting. Peach I could have done without, but it was important to be polite. It takes all kinds to make a world.

As different as she might be, it was very nice to have Peach to handle the weapons. Silver knew her way around brass knuckles, which shocked me when I first heard, but she was too gentle to do any real damage. The littler kids had domestic and survival skills. I wanted to be helpful, so I started learning how to track. I didn't think I'd do much hunting, though I would try if I got hungry enough, but it would be good to know if other Tributes were around.

"How do you track on rocky ground?" I asked the assistant.

"That's pretty hard, as you might imagine," he said. "There's not much to do other than look at the dust and see if it looks disturbed. You're better off sticking to stuff you can master in a week."

 _Yeah, he's right,_ I thought. I was doing the best I could, but there was only so much someone could learn in a week. I went back to studying broken twigs and smashed leaves.

If it couldn't be me, I hoped one of the little kids won _._ Alinta, Alice and the others reminded me of all my brothers and sisters back home. My own siblings weren't that little anymore, which was weird to think about. Some of them were older than me by now. If they were even still alive, that was.

 _Don't be negative. Everything will turn out right._ I wasn't the only one who could take care of things. After I went, one of the others would have taken over. I still felt guilty, even though I only left because I _died._ If I got back, I'd make it up to them.

* * *

Emmie Falkin- District Three female

 _ALL A IS B. SOME A IS C. THEREFORE:_

 _Some B is C,_ I typed in. It seemed weird that there would be a logic station, but it was an important skill to have. That wasn't the only kind of problem, either. Other questions were practical, like risk assessment questions that gave specifications for hypothetical Tributes and asked which one was a greater danger. Logic was hard to study for. If I mastered it more than I already had, I would have a big advantage.

There was another Emmeline from Three, which was a little weird. She seemed like a total egghead. Sometimes those people won, so she had that going for her. There were always people like that back in Three. We were generally "smart", just because we spent so much time on technical education, but there were always those few golden children who came out knowing how to run algorithms and speaking C++ before they spoke their first English word. Lucky stiffs.

After some more time at the logic station, I started making rounds in the training room and checking out the other students. I got a pad from Acee and jotted down notes.

 _Gadeloth- Psycho. Don't worry- he'll jump off the platform and blow himself up._

 _Floki- Nope nope nope NOT to be messed with_

 _Alayza- All bark, no bite_

 _Cooper- What's with him and his alliance? He belongs with Silver, ha ha_

 _Daisy Stem-_ Ditzy _Stem_

 _Ava Vave- That is too many a's and v's in a row. Ava Vavavava_

 _Alinta- Bit of a bulldog. Not worth the collateral damage._

 _Bliss- Blissgusting_

It took a long time to get all the names. It was hard to just _find_ everyone. The training room was way bigger than I remembered. It was more like a stadium. I wasn't sure I found everyone, and some people were definitely on there twice. I added one final name.

 _Emmie Falkin- Logical. Not unattractive. Sassy. Takes no crap. One-time loser, hopeful one-time winner._

* * *

Culic Norph- District Five male

Someone like me didn't need to train. I stuck around the training room anyway, just so I could watch the others fail. From Hindi working on the stupid plant patterns to Flash trying to pick up a sword, it was a hilarious show.

Roxin swatted at his ear where a popcorn kernel had hit it. I could tell it was popcorn because I threw it.

"Hey, Rockin' Roxin! Did you hit yourself?" I asked. He looked at me askance and shook his head, turning back to his work.

 _Fine. Be like that._ I moved on to Ferrari, who was on the climbing wall. "Hey Lamborghini! That didn't work out so well last time!" I jeered.

"Yeah, that's why I'm _practicing,"_ she said without looking at me.

"Well... you suck!" I shot back.

"K," she said.

"Hey Miller, you gonna eat cake for your private session?" I asked the fat kid.

"Shut up!" he said.

"Why don't you make me?" I asked.

"Why don't you grow a brain?" he asked.

"If I had a coin for every brain you don't have, I'd have one coin," I said.

"I'd have _two!"_ Miller shouted.

"You wanna go?" I asked.

"I _do_ wanna go!" Miller said.

Miller was a lot fatter than he looked. I might have been stronger, but it was hard to fight an elephant. Really, no one came out of that exchange better.

* * *

Kegn Yuehan- District Seven male

 _Last time didn't turn out so good. I have to do better._

The last Games was in a boat. This one would probably be outside. That meant I should work on outdoors stuff. I knew a few plants from back home- the simple ones like sumac and clover. Maybe I should expand that. Then again, this was a _Resurrection Games._ Those had their own patterns. The first one was in a super lush rainforest. The second was in a graveyard. Both of them were dynamic and jam-packed locations. Both of them provided food so that the Tributes would do all the killing. That led me to believe this one might be the same. In that case, it wasn't food I had to train for.

"What's the most efficient way to kill someone?" I asked Paul. "Or just hurt them, I guess. If they can't follow me, that's all I care about." _If they can't follow me, they'll die anyway_ was more like it.

"I used an axe, but that's not the only way," Paul said. "If you're looking for the quickest way, aim at the legs. There's a lot of blood vessels in there, and it's hard to run if your leg is broken."

 _Aim for the legs. Got it._ It didn't have to be a big wound, either. I didn't need to pick a huge sword or a dramatic spear. Something small and easy to carry would be ideal for me. Since I was no crack shot, it would be nice to have more than one hit. Something like a bolo or a blowgun might work.

 _Let's not complicate things. How about a sling?_ A piece of cloth and a rock. That was all I needed. Having been hit with a rock before in a brotherly roughhousing match, I knew that a simple rock could hurt like a son of a gun. With a sling, I could fire as fast as I could pick up heavy things. An expert could kill with a sling, but I just wanted to get myself out of danger. And even someone as plain and boring as me could get someone to sponsor a piece of cloth. If not, I'd have to use my shirt. Maybe shirtless me would get sponsors. Probably not.

* * *

 **Hey hey hey I need my first votes! This time it's a little unusual. I want you to vote on which weaker Tribute (it's up to you who is considered weak) you definitely don't want to die in the Bloodbath. The other Bloodbath votes will come later. Vote for up to five Tributes to be spared.**

 **You can also send in a question for the interviews if you want! This is WAY too many Tributes for a normal interview. This time, each Tribute will get asked one question from someone in the audience. I do my best to match up answers or answer like I think the Tribute would.**


	19. Just Getting More POVs Out

Jake Diaz- District Eight male

We probably weren't supposed to play baseball on the Games building room. What else were we going to do when we had so many allies? There was me, Zach, Logan, Troy, Demarcus, Jay, Austin, Patrick, Cooper, Blaise, and Mati. Zach preferred football, but that took _way_ more room. It wasn't all goofing off, either. We were _training._ Baseball took speed, coordination, teamwork, and the ability to not get hit by things coming at you.

The roof wasn't really as big as a baseball field, but we made do. Those of us who could actually throw or catch- Demarcus, Troy, and Patrick- were the outfielders. Logan was at the bat, which made sense, because that boy knew his way around the bat. The "bat" was really more of a staff we took from the training room, since that was the only one they'd let us take. Apparently ten boys are "dangerous" and "shouldn't be running down the halls with a sword". Likewise, the ball was one of those cheap ones you get at a toy store. It didn't go very far, which was good, since the roof wasn't that big.

"Heyyyyy batter! I've seen better batters than you at a bakery!" Cooper jeered.

"Of course you did. Bakery batter is delicious!" Mati said.

"Maybe I'm delicious!" Logan defended himself. There was a chorus of hoots and disgusted noises from the rest of the team. Logan unable to recover that sticking his foot that far in his mouth, struck out.

"Mati's up!" Jay yelled.

Mati took the bat and stood at our home plate, which was a folded shirt. She'd been up twice already and struck out both times. Her striking power was matched only by her coordination and speed, since zero matches zero.

"Strike one!" the catcher, Blaise, called after the first miss. When the second ball came, Mati swung so hard she turned herself halfway around.

 _Crack!_ The ball went flying with the speed only a freak hit can give. Austin ran to catch it and almost fell off the side of the building. The ball soared over the edge and toward the crowd below.

"Oh crap!" I yelled, along with half the others. I had no idea what would happen if someone got hit with a ball from that far up. We bolted to the door and down the steps before the ball was halfway to the ground.

* * *

Autumn Kane- District Nine female

One of us was going to be a winner. It was surreal when I thought about it. We all thought 'oh wow, there's no way I can win out of all these people'. Except maybe the Careers- they might think they could still win. One of us actually _would,_ though. One of us would outlast almost a hundred and fifty other people and win fame and riches. Not that we cared much about fame and riches, except the Careers again.

Three people had already done something like this: Kazuo Braun, Avariella Hanson, and Frankie Disney. Something about those three people gave them what it took to face unbeatable odds and beat them. There was only one thing to do: ask them.

"Mr. Braun?" I asked as I knocked on the door marked _Kazuo Braun._ I wasn't sure I was allowed to be in the One lounge, so I hoped he opened the door quick. I got that prickly feeling of being watched and assumed he was looking through the peephole at me. The door opened, but only a crack. I slipped in as Kazuo looked behind me.

"It's just me," I said.

"I know," Kazuo said, but he was still looking. I realized then that it probably had something to do with his Games.

"You're not from One," Kazuo said when he really looked at me.

"No," I admitted. "I just wanted to ask how you won a Resurrection Games."

"I was just in the right place at the right time," Kazuo said. I thought he'd say something about not wanting to help someone from another District, but he answered right away. He seemed really nervous. I felt guilty about asking anything else, since I was obviously scaring him, so I left.

"How did you win a Resurrection Games?" I asked Ava.

"I probably shouldn't tell you, but in this case it doesn't matter, because I was the strongest," she said.

 _Wow. Completely honest_ and _completely savage._

"How did you win a Resurrection Games?" I asked Frankie. I felt weirded out just being in front of him. He was like eight feet tall and totally blank-faced.

"I was willing to kill everyone else," he said. _Of course he was._

 _Okay, then. Be at the right place at the right time, be the strongest, and be willing to kill everyone else. One of those is random and one is out of my reach. That leaves one, if I can bring myself to. But I have to, don't I?_

* * *

Alayza Mont- District Eight female

Even I was nervous with this many people. Sometimes people called me a "bully", and it was true that I wasn't above intimidation when I had to use it. Some of these people wouldn't be intimidated, though. Not that creepy-looking boy from One, and definitely not the weirdo from Four. The giantess from Seven would snap me like a toothpick if I picked on her. I could be impulsive, but even I knew to pick my battles. Generally I only finished fights- it was someone else who started them. I'd keep it that way as much as possible. If I had to rack up a kill count to get more sponsors, I'd pick the easy targets.

With this group, it was better to keep them as far away from me as possible. That meant using a spear- the longest one I could find. Once I found one, it was pretty easy to learn to use it. Spears are pretty much just point and stab. I didn't intend to throw mine. Weapons could be hard to come by. I didn't want to risk losing it.

One of the girls from Nine was watching me. As soon as I noticed it, I got aggressive in my attacks. I started to stab the mannequin, even though I didn't have to. It wasn't going to take any damage. The anger in my attacks was just to show her I'd do the same to her if she gave me any trouble.

"See that?" I asked, driving the point home. She hadn't noticed I was watching, and she drew back when I looked at her. "That's what happens to people that mess with me."

"Is that so?"

 _Crap._

The giantess just _had_ to be listening. She came over to the spear station and folded her arms. It was too late to back down. Intimidation was just as much about imagination as reality. I had a reputation, and my life depended on keeping it up.

"Yeah, that's so," I said, craning my neck to look into Desiree's face. "You got something to say about it?"

"Maybe I do," Desiree said.

She didn't really want to fight. She just wanted to knock me down a peg. She _could,_ too. But I knew she didn't want to, so that gave me room to keep face.

"Why don't you see me in the Arena, then?" I asked. "We'll see who has the last word."

"All right. Be there. But I guess you will, won't you?" Desiree asked.

"Better hope I'm not," I said. _Shoot. That sounded better in my head._ I stormed away, pretending I didn't want to be near someone as beneath me as Desiree. She didn't really want trouble. At the Bloodbath, she'd be focused on staying alive, just like me. And if she wasn't... this time I might actually have bitten off more than I could chew.

* * *

 **Be sure to vote for the weaker Tributes you want to survive the Bloodbath! Some people already have. Up to five votes per person!**

 **Also be sure to send in a question for the interviews so I don't have to make up 140. You can send in a silly Capitol name for the asker, too. There's no penalty for not doing either. There will just be more stupid questions if I have to make them all. You can ask any Tribute, not just your own.**


	20. Interviews

**Someone said I could just skip the interviews. I was a third of the way in at the time, and she was totally right. My pride was piqued, though, and I continued for no good reason. Presenting about 140 questions, about 130 of which I wrote.**

 **I'm missing SHELLEY STAR WATERS. I looked through my file and her form's not there, which is probably why I missed her. If anyone can tell me where she's from, I'll add her and her question. I also missed Logan Quinn, but I know Jayman won't mind me jsut adding him here.**

* * *

Caesar Flickerman- Interviewer

"Good evening, Panem! It's time for a very special set of interviews. In front of me you see a bowl on a stand. Inside that bowl are hundreds of questions asked by _you,_ the audience! Each Tribute will answer one question. I know you're all dying to hear more, but I also know that if we did normal interviews, you'd _be_ dead before we got finished!"

* * *

 _Onyx, what do you think of the word "dragil"?- Eusebius Twitt_

" _Oh my goodness get him offstage!"_

* * *

" _Ruby, what Victor do you most admire?"- Jemimah Puddle_

"I would have to say Blake. It's really inspiring how she overcame her past."

* * *

" _Jayden, what will you do differently this time around?"- Herodotus Hatt_

" _Duh..._ I'll _win."_

* * *

" _Charming, are you excited to be in a normal Games this time?"- Felicia Dot_

"Definitely. I didn't like the social aspect of victory last time. This time, my decisions will determine my fate."

* * *

" _Priscilla, what's the dumbest thing you ever did?"- Spartacus Leek_

"Died three times."

* * *

" _Miall, are you romantically engaged?"- Tallulah Hula_

"Uh... funny you should ask..."

* * *

" _Karyssa, what do you call a fish with no eyes?"- Jason Black_

"Oh my goodness... what kind of... (sigh) a fsh."

* * *

" _Gloria, what will your talent be if you win?"- Thucydides Flat_

"Wow, to be honest, I didn't think that far. Maybe dancing."

* * *

" _Madison, what do you hope the Arena will be?"- Cleopatra Scale_

"This is kind of silly, but I hope it's pretty."

* * *

" _Ava, on a scale of one to ten, how pretty are you?"- Ulysses Lamb_

"Ten! If you got it, flaunt it!"

* * *

" _Valerie, are you embarrassed at how you died?"- Galatea Whipple_

"Not at all."

* * *

" _Jason, who do you think will last longer- you or your sister?"- Trillium Hawk_

"I don't even... I don't know. I hope I don't have to watch."

* * *

" _Minos, what made you decide to volunteer?"- Gaia Hummel_

"Looking back, it wasn't my brightest idea."

* * *

" _Calvin, what's your favorite book?"- Amalthea Unicorn_

" _Critique of Pure Reason._ I'm sorry, that's so braggy."

* * *

" _Tuesday, are you still going to write that book?"- Corvus Crow_

"I kind of feel obligated after going through all this."

* * *

" _Troy, why are you with your alliance?"- Josephus Tome_

"They have the best parties."

* * *

" _Daren, why did you die in the Bloodbath?"- Caiaphas Frog_

"Dude, why you do me so ugly?"

* * *

" _Ember, what's the best advice your father gave you?"- Demeter Swizzle_

"Pain is gonna happen, and it always stops everntually."

* * *

" _Shui, why did you volunteer, anyway?"- Xenophon Brisk_

"It's complicated. You should have asked my favorite color or something."

* * *

" _Cierra, do you prefer pancakes or waffles?"- Socrates Boor_

"If I had to pick one I'd pick pancakes, but I like them both, especially with chocolate chips."

* * *

" _Theo, are you mad about the way you died?"- Plato Celeste_

"Of course I'm mad I died, but I'm not dwelling on it. That would be a waste of time."

* * *

" _Jessie, what do you think of Hades winning?"- Aristotle Ground_

"I'm happy for him. I don't like it when little kids die."

* * *

" _Chrome, would you kill Jessie if it was just you two?"- Exsequia Exil_

"No."

* * *

" _Akari, what's the girliest thing you've ever done?"- Pythagoras Theorum_

"Everything I do is girly. I'm a girl."

* * *

" _Natalie, what's your biggest fear?"- Persephone Glitchet_

"You think I'm gonna answer that? My biggest fear is having tons of money and a really hot boyfriend."

* * *

" _Eridan, why didn't you win last time?"- Archimedes Owl_

"I wish I knew!"

* * *

" _Violet, why did you decide to volunteer?"- Percival McLeach_

"I wanted to win the money so I could take care of my siblings."

* * *

" _Shinju, what's it like being a vampire?"- Barnabas Collins_

"I don't really do that anymore. I know it's too late and it won't fix anything, but I'm really sorry."

* * *

" _Halon, what's your IQ?"- Gregor Pea_

"Wow, that was forever ago. Like 125, I think. I don't think those matter, though. Intelligence is what you do."

* * *

" _Flash, what District would you like to live in other than Three?"- Terpsichord Cue_

"I think Five or Six. I'm a city boy."

* * *

" _Emmie, name a Tribute you think will die in the Bloodbath."- Allegra Window_

"This is really low-hanging fruit. Miller."

* * *

" _Decimal, how do you feel about Zeus not getting picked?" -Chronos Meta_

"I don't get it. We were kind of a thing. I would have thought that was what made us interesting. I really miss him."

* * *

" _Gidget, what's it like missing your baby?"- Alpha Bravo_

(Crying) "It's like nothing I've ever imagined."

* * *

" _Lisette, can you draw me a doodle?"- Echo Holler_

(Lisette draws a dinosaur on a napkin) "There you go."

* * *

" _Electra, did you get bigger?"- Felix Mohr_

"Yeah, I think they did it when they cloned me. It's a little weird, but I guess they thought it would give me more of a chance."

* * *

" _Sparkil, can you rig your hand so you can launch it and it will grab someone?"- Hela Good_

"Not gonna lie, I used to do that when I was little. I would shake hands with someone and then go _'oh my god you pulled off my arm!'"_

* * *

" _Tatsuya, did you know your sister is missing?"- Arborea Snicker_

"What?!"

* * *

" _Demarcus, is it true you were in a gang?"- Alexander Tinsel_

"Everyone in my town was. You have to be, or you can't survive. We do what we have to."

* * *

" _Gizmo, does it bother you that you've been getting more aggressive?"- Hyperion Charge_

"No. I just want to stay alive, like everyone else. If I'm better at killing than someone else, that's not my fault."

* * *

" _Emmeline, what do you look for in a man?"- Triana Dot_

"People think I want a smart guy, but I just want a kind guy. Smart people can be so arrogant, myself not excluded."

* * *

" _Jayla, was it really an accident?"- Darius Mede_

"Yes. I'm not a killer. Every day I think about what happened, and it never gets better. Just look at what happened in the Games. I'm not a killer."

* * *

" _Hindi, what's the most important thing for a Tribute to have?"- Callum Ink_

"I would say endurance. The Games just plain take a long time. You have to get through a lot of different challenges to win."

* * *

" _Coral, how is the number of Careers affecting the alliance dynamics?"- Dorothea Muller_

"We're definitely not all going to be in one pack. I think we'll probably group mostly by District."

* * *

" _Lexi, you weren't a volunteer, right?"- Patrocles Gleam_

"No, I was pretty early in the Games. Volunteers weren't really a thing yet."

* * *

" _Luna, is there a story behind your name?"- Anita Man_

"Funny you should ask! I was born on the night of the full moon. My dad wanted to name me Werewolf, but my mom said no."

* * *

" _Dylan, I just want to say you look so good in that dress! What's your favorite makeup look?"- Sun-Tzu Bonsai_

"I just now got easy access to makeup. So far I like colorful eyeshadow."

* * *

" _Reefe, if I threw a harmonica onstage, could you play us a song?"- Helena Handbasket_

"Let me ask Caesar."

"Let's hear it!"

(Lays down sick blues improvisation)

* * *

" _Daisy, why are you allied with a bunch of weaklings?"- Phoebus Horse_

"They're my friends, dummy!"

* * *

" _Erin, if you were a cookie, what kind of cookie would you be?"- Philharmonica Song_

"I would want to be a raisin cookie because then I wouldn't get eaten."

* * *

" _Amphilia, do you feel like you got cheated?"- Wilhemina Bucket_

"I wish I could say that, but really, there aren't any cheap shots or dirty tricks. It doesn't matter how you died, only that you died."

* * *

" _Marley, how excited are you that Ava won?"- Fatima Jibar_

"I'm _so_ excited! I just wish she wasn't from Two so she could sponsor me!"

* * *

" _Dath, is it weird being from such a long-ago Games?"- Androcles Lion_

"I don't care what year it is. People still bleed the same."

* * *

" _Arielle, do people from Four really eat nothing but fish?"- Icarus Splat_

"No, sometimes we eat shrimp."

* * *

" _Whyte, are the rumors about you and Floki true?"- Delilah Loom_

"I don't think it's really a secret. Now that Vera's married I at least needed a rebound."

* * *

" _Dylan, are you a Career or not?"- Daedalus Pater_

"I'm sort of in-between. I don't think I'm strong enough to fight with the really big dogs, but I'm not tiny or anything."

* * *

" _Patrick, why don't you use a shalaylee?"- Mortimer Mouse_

"That's s-h-i-l-l-e-l-a-g-h, and I didn't use one because I didn't want to be a little fanboy."

* * *

" _Floki, can you say something cool in Viking?"- Pernicia Jam_

"f'tagn f'tagn ry-leh ph'nglui."

* * *

" _Culic, are you really as cool as you think you are?"- Narcissus Pool_

"Of course! I don't like to mention it, but I have a lot going for me. There's a lot more to me than I let on."

* * *

" _Roxin, do you think allies are a necessity this time?"- Alicia Blind_

"It would probably be the smartest thing to ally, but I don't know if that's right for me. I'm just a really solitary guy."

* * *

" _Logan, why does your alliance keep getting bigger?"- Flora Lorn_

"More cool dudes keep washing up."

* * *

" _Daniel, how you keep losing Sarla without losing hope?"- Hester Prynne_

"I don't care anymore. She's had her chance. I'll kill her myself this time."

* * *

" _Sarla, do you still feel like a little girl?"- Phillip Glass_

"I think I stopped being a little girl the first time I died."

* * *

" _Sita, what's your big strength in this Games?"- Oleander Spice_

"I'm really good with mechanical stuff. I hope there's some of that in the Arena."

* * *

" _Scott, can you tell me a joke?"- Ares Spear_

"A grasshopper walks into a bar. The bartender says 'hey, we have a drink named after you!'. The bartender says 'you have a drink named _Bob?'"_

* * *

" _Sammy, do you think you'll do better in a normal Games?"- Vespasian Rex_

"I think I had more advantage in a voting system, probably. Let's hope I'm wrong!"

* * *

" _Kerry, what's your favorite color?"- Andromeda Whorl_

" _Seriously?!"_

* * *

" _Ally, how do you feel about being in another Arena with Shinju?"- Cirrhus Cloud_

"I was really mad at first. I can't believe she said she's sorry. I think she really meant it."

* * *

" _Cain, what are your thoughts on the Games?"- Tyrannus Mate_

"I shouldn't answer, but I'm done. I hate them and they're barbaric. No one should stand for this."

* * *

" _Totem, how far are you willing to go to win?"- Ferris Circum_

"Pretty far, but I think there are things I won't do. You can ask Lyann and Thay about that."

* * *

" _Mustang, what's the craziest thing you ever did?"- Tritium Jones_

"I ate a bug once to scare my friend. I am not a smart man."

* * *

" _Nairobi, how do you feel about Erwin winning?"- Cynthia Doll_

"I don't like to remember it."

* * *

" _Volvo, why are you named after a car?"- Portia Gel_

"Names are weird in Six. And I got some news for you..."

* * *

" _Hemi, will you give medical help to anyone in the Games?"- Sardinia Can_

"I wish I could say I would, but I think that would be stupid. I'll give it to anyone innocent or anyone too young to be in the Arena."

* * *

" _Ferrari, what would you do if you were walking down the road and you saw a bear?"- Ursa Major_

"I'd get way too close trying to look at it and get myself mauled."

* * *

" _Sofia, what is your favorite kind of bug to eat?"- Candi Barr_

"I like wichetty grubs. They're really fat and buttery. They taste less like bugs."

* * *

" _Velvet, are you and Bambi still an item even though he's so much older?"- Cupid Agape_

"We don't think of it like that. He looks older but we were still born the same year, you know?"

* * *

" _Adonia, who would win if a really fat guy and a walrus fought?"- Aviva Mirror_

"I hear walruses can be really mean, and they have those big tusks. My money's on the walrus."

* * *

" _Kegn, why is your name spelled like that?"- Zephyr Syzygy_

"I don't know. I was very young at the time."

* * *

" _Helena, which of your competitors do you think has the best chance?"- Ivana Odds_

"I would guess probably Floki or Ember."

* * *

" _Ever, why are you still so popular?"- Malleus Mind_

"I think it's because throwing knives are so popular. People like to think they could do it, too. It's really hard, though."

* * *

" _Maple, what's the best thing about the Capitol?"- Andrea Dandy_

"It's May. And the best thing is the toilets, because they're not as full of crap as everything else."

* * *

" _Jasmine, what tribe are you from?"- Justinius Croix_

"It was so long ago, we lost our records. There were a few tribes in my area."

* * *

" _Violet, what's your favorite kind of flower?"- Quirinius Manger_

"I like clover. They're so small and nice-smelling, and they're everywhere. They're generous like that."

* * *

" _Des, is it true about you and Harley?"- Dennys Keane_

"Ask me in private."

* * *

" _Jodie, what do you think the Arena will be like?"- Drago Ivan_

"I think it will be complicated and probably hospitable. And big."

* * *

" _Vester, do you think you'll make it past the Bloodbath this time?"- Cirque Lejercke_

"Better not count my chickens before they hatch! I think I will, though. I have some ideas."

* * *

" _Denim, who's the coolest Tribute?"- Phineas Gage_

"Tatsuya is a really cool guy."

* * *

" _Flannel, can you make up a poem for us?"- Kaiser Roll_

"What kind of dumb question is that?

Make a poem right off the bat?

Sounds pretty darn dumb

But I ain't no bum

This is the end of our chat."

* * *

" _Vanny, do you think it's possible for a non-volunteer to win?"- Pallas Athena_

"Hey, we win, like, a third of the time! Anything's possible."

* * *

" _Martha, how do you plan to stick out?"- Cellach Lumin_

"I think it's better to blend in, at least for a while."

* * *

" _Brenna, what gives you motivation?"- Belshazzar Mene_

"Not dying. Seeing my parents again. Playing piano."

* * *

" _Eddin, what was the most dramatic Games?"- Bellerephon Rubber_

"The second Resurrection Games. I still get nightmares."

* * *

" _Alayza, who won the Games and shouldn't have?"- Xerxes Raze_

"Kazuo. He just seemed like an afterthought."

* * *

" _Cavendar, what's your idea of the perfect date?"- Mimi Vale_

"This is cliché, but I'm serious. Dancing in the rain."

* * *

" _Blaise, have you ever gotten in a real fight?"- Marcus Deer_

"I talk tough, but I don't really like fighting. It's dangerous, and no one really wins a street fight. I've been in them, but I wouldn't say I won."

* * *

" _Ryker, do you feel like you've made amends?"- Geminya Tome_

"I think I've done all anyone can. We all have regrets."

* * *

" _Haber, are you a lesbian or just that much of a man-hater?"- Homer Voyage_

"I don't even acknowledge the premise that it's possible to be attracted to men."

* * *

" _Silver, why are you named Silver if you're from Eight?"_

"I asked my parents once. They said thread could be silver. I guess they're not wrong."

* * *

" _Zibby, did you think your plan would be that successful?"- Letitia Vine_

"I couldn't know how many people were within range, but I thought I'd get a few."

* * *

" _Jake, what is the average air speed velocity of a laden swallow?"- Bucephalus Equs_

"African or European?"

* * *

" _Thalia, what do you miss most about home?"- Aguirre Frond_

"I miss my family. What else matters, you know?"

* * *

" _Bliss, what's the worst thing you ever did?"- Parthenope Nurse_

"One time I told my mother I cleaned my room but I really put it all under the bed."

* * *

" _Mia, what kind of fruit is the grossest?"- Aura Lee_

"If we're going with raw ones, lemon would be the grossest to eat."

* * *

" _Autumn, do you have a sister named Summer?"- Farley Drexel_

"I tried to tell my parents, but they wouldn't budge."

* * *

" _Cooper, did you ever get called 'Pooper'?"- Penelope Ship_

"Thanks for reminding me."

* * *

" _Tariq, have you found any allies?"- Kay Birde_

"Not yet. Please, someone ally with me. I don't care who. Anyone."

* * *

" _Miller, how many cakes can you pack in that fat body of yours?"- Otto Readmore_

"As many as I want!"

* * *

" _Cotton, what's something you're just not good at?"- Erebos Chaos_

"Playing marbles. I never was good at it."

* * *

" _Jeanie, what is it like to come in second place?"- Thessalonia Pop_

"It's crushing. It's worse having that glimmer of hope. I hope I go early if I die."

* * *

" _Citlali, what is it that gets most Tributes killed?"- Gigi Hound_

"Not being able to adapt. You have a lot coming at you all at once in the Arena."

* * *

" _Lyann, what's the first thing you'll do if you win?"- Rhea Salis_

"Hire all my old coworkers and let them sit around eating grapes all day."

* * *

" _Elle, what's it like having a four-letter name with three silent letters?"- Winnyfred Pillowtop_

"Wow. Wow, I never saw that."

* * *

" _Levi, what makes you different from the others?"- Aquinas Thomas_

"We're all different because of the combination of all our attributes. Like, none of us are unique in any one thing, but all together, no one's the same."

* * *

" _Eve, what have you learned from dying?"- Vivica Lore_

"Life's not as sweet as I thought. You have to fight for everything. No one's one your side but you."

* * *

" _Orland, what's the longest you've stayed on a bull?"- Labyrinth Zeus_

"I don't want to brag, but fifteen seconds. And no, the bull wasn't dead."

* * *

" _Philip, how are you doing without Lilei?"- Jarvis Bot_

"I'm sad, but I know she's somewhere better. Me and Soya are still allying. We'll take care of each other."

* * *

" _Gael, what's the hardest thing you ever did?"- Harpo Marx_

"Answer trivia about a _stupid rat!"_

* * *

" _Ethel, how are you going to get past the Bloodbath this time?"- Lenore Lost_

"I'm going to run a little faster this time. Last time didn't work so well."

* * *

" _Mati, how did you end up with this alliance?"- Virgo Weiner_

"It's like Snow White. All those boys were strong and all, but they can't cook. _I_ can cook."

* * *

" _Xegon, care to elaborate on your interesting past?"- Ollie Stan_

"I, uh, kind of grew up in a cult. They're not _all_ weird, but some people can make anything weird."

* * *

" _Potato, what else do you like other than potatoes?"- Agricola Bean_

"I like Sammy and Camellia."

* * *

" _Olivier, do some magic for us!"- Atticus Stern_

"Don't have to tell me twice!" (Rips up napkin and mends it)

* * *

" _Vextrix, do you think you'll outlive Hoban?"- Farrah Faucet_

"That's really morbid to think about. I hope we both do well. I don't know what will happen."

* * *

" _Hoban, if you had to kill a Tribute, who would you pick?"- Sanguis Flow_

"Onyx, just because he seems like he's not really human."

* * *

" _Zinnia, do you think someone your age can really win?"- Celeste Pony_

"Hades won. Alinta got third. It's harder, but everything worth doing is hard."

* * *

" _Anise, why do you keep protecting people?"- Orestes Fink_

"Because I'm human."

* * *

" _Zach, would you throw me over your shoulder and carry me away?"- Petal Fallon_

"Call me, baby."

* * *

" _Grayn, does it bother you that you're forgettable and definitely won't win?"- Cecilia Crow_

"Not until you said that..."

* * *

" _Daria, what do you think about cloning?"- Hecate Cider_

"I'm happy it let me live again, but it's still weird. I wish I knew more about it."

* * *

" _Jay, do you think someone in your alliance will win this time?"- Buster Rhymes_

"It gets bigger every year. Eventually it'll be all of us, and then we'll have to win!"

* * *

" _Austin, what's your favorite bug?"- Morpheus Bed_

"That's a weird question. If I'm allowed to cheat a little, I like garden spiders."

* * *

" _Kuma, who's the prettiest Tribute?"- Diana Prince_

"Sofia's really pretty. She has pretty hair."

* * *

" _Tatiana, when did you know you were a wolf?"- Lapin Lazuli_

"I dunno. When did you know you were a human?"

* * *

" _Anthra, what was your life like in Twelve?"- Gahan Spray_

"There was a lot of bad stuff. I guess everyone has troubles."

* * *

" _Jason, were you named after the Argonaut guy?"- Argo Scruyurself_

"Sorry. I was named after my grandfather Jason."

* * *

" _Aurora, who do you hope doesn't win?"- Fallujah Fajita_

"Culic. Miller. Onyx. Daniel. Haber. Emmie..."

* * *

" _Field, what is the best Hunger Games moment?"- Mars Bar_

"I liked the part where Shane killed Rhoda."

* * *

" _Aspen, what would you do if you were president?"- Iola Grand_

"I would throw a huge party and everyone could come and there would be a lot of food."

* * *

" _Dayley, where in Panem do you want to go?"- Lotus Hover_

"I want to go to Ten so I can ride a horse."

* * *

" _Aliara, do you see anything you like among the other Tributes?" Sappho Poem_

"Des isn't really my type, and I don't think I'm hers either. I'll have to see what the others are like."

* * *

" _Nash, are you sad that Cain isn't allying with you?"- Gallus Stone_

"Something happened to him. I think they wanted him to be scarier. I wish he was the way he used to be."

* * *

" _Smudge, how do you like your new alliance?"- Sol Sphere_

"They really nice. They don't mind I talk funny. Anise help me read better."

* * *

" _Gadeloth, I'm your number one fan. Who are you going to kill first?"- Nihilus Rome_

"Whoever I get to first."

* * *

" _Alinta, what's your favorite game to play?"- Undine Sea_

"I like Red Rover. You get to smash people."

* * *

" _Vesper, are you aware there's a cocktail named after you?"- Ophelia Drown_

"My name's not Bob! Just kidding, I actually didn't know that."

* * *

" _Peach, do you have anything derogatory to say about your opponents?"- Zyzzva Hominid_

"Derogatory? Yeah, they're great!"

* * *

Caesar Flickerman

"There you go, everyone! We learned a lot, and I look forward to seeing more. I won't keep you any longer, though. See you soon!"

* * *

 **I probably missed someone, so don't mind yelling at me. As usual, the names and questions are full of Easter Eggs, so have fun finding those. If anyone wants a full list I can send it, since I love talking about how witty I am.**


	21. Private Session Report Part 1

**I need to do this in multiple parts since the chapter is so many lines (50 pages on Word, I kid you not) that it was crashing my internet.**

 **BONUS: Two people I missed!**

* * *

" _Viola, do you play the Viola?"- Hexxus Curry_

"I was too busy training. I wish I could play something."

* * *

" _Fable, what are your favorite finds of fairy tale?"- Capita Light_

"I like the ones with smart princesses, like _The Twelve Hunting Princesses."_

* * *

Theodora Harp- Gamemaker

They had to pick a hundred and forty-four Tributes. You know how many Tributes that was? A gross. And it _was_ a gross, since I was the one that had to make profiles for all of them.

They had to make it a special form, too, didn't they? This time, the normal categories weren't enough. I had to make an entirely new system to classify an entire gross of Tributes in relation to each other. They wanted them all _ranked._ Why? _WWWWWWWWHHHHHHYYYYYYYY?!_

It took three days to them all. Three entire days spent doing nothing but tallying numbers, moving Tributes around in a list, and crying. When I was done, Harley wanted to have a date night. I wanted to have a nap.

* * *

FABLE ANDERS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 8

POPULARITY: 10

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 8.6666

* * *

ONYX SOUL

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: N/A due to cloning difficulties

INTELLIGENCE: 5 (Due to cloning difficulties)

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5 (Difficult to ascertain due to accidental nature of first death)

DRIVE TO WIN: 0

SKILLS PERFORMED: 10

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 3

RESOURCEFULNESS: N/A due to cloning difficulties

SPECIAL NOTES: Snow and Qin altered Onyx's cloning protocol specifically.

AVERAGE: 4.1111

* * *

RUBY LALONDE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5 (Difficult to ascertain due to aberrant nature of last Games)

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 7.5555

* * *

JAYDEN CHADSEY

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 10

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 8.3333

* * *

CHARMING GOODWIN

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6 (Hard to determine)

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 8.2222

* * *

PRISCILLA PISCOT

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 6

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 7

* * *

MIALL PISCOT

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 4

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.4444

* * *

KARYSSA EVANS

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 8

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 8.3333

* * *

GLORIA MARTEZ

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 9

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 7.7777

* * *

MADISON ENGLISH

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 2 (Madison was trying to get an artificially low score)

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 7

* * *

AVA VAVE

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 5

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 4

AVERAGE: 6.2222

* * *

VALERIE LENN

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 3

DRIVE TO WIN: 5

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 1

RESOURCEFULNESS: 10

AVERAGE: 6.4444

* * *

JASON LENN

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 10

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 7.2222

* * *

MINOS VELLA

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 10

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 3

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 5

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 1

AVERAGE: 6.2222

* * *

CALVIN HARRIS

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7 (Unavoidable death)

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 7.8888

* * *

TUESDAY ERELLE

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 8 (10-2 for common sense)

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 7.1111

* * *

TROY CAHILL

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 10

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 8

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 8.4444

* * *

DAREN GERARD

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 7

* * *

EMBER STEINER

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 10

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 8.6666

* * *

SHUI STEINER

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 3

DRIVE TO WIN: 4

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

CIERRA DALINE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 7

* * *

THEO KASIUS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 7.6666

* * *

JESSIE CABELLO

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 6

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 8

POPULARITY: 10

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 8.4444

* * *

CHROME CABELLO

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 10

DRIVE TO WIN: 4

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 10

AVERAGE: 8.6666

* * *

AKARI IGENOUS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 10

RESILIENCE: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 5 (Due to long interval between Games)

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 8.4444

* * *

NATALIE ANDREZ

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 9

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 8

* * *

ERIDAN MEDEA

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 8

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 8.4444

* * *

VIOLA PIERRE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 7.6666

* * *

SHINJU MATSUSHITA

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 6

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 4 (Due to changes during Vera's Games)

POPULARITY: 6 ( _very_ popular with the bloodthirsty crowd, but no one wants her to win)

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9 (toilet tank yo)

AVERAGE: 7


	22. Private Session Report Part 2

HALON BAXTER

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4 (due to chronic illness recently fixed)

RESILIENCE: 4 (chronic illness)

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 6.3333

* * *

TATSUYA HIKARU

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 6.8888

* * *

FLASH WIRE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4 (Flash lied about his age to get tesserae and was 11 when he was Reaped)

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 5.6666

* * *

EMMIE FALKIN

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 4

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 3

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 5.2222

* * *

DECIMAL TECHSTONE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 2

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 5.6666

* * *

GIDGET FORD

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 0

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 7

* * *

LISETTE CROWLEY

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4

RESILIENCE: 4

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 2

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 6.4444

* * *

ELECTRA MAGNETA

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8 (Due to cloning irregularities)

RESILIENCE: 4

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 5

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 0

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 5.6666

* * *

SPARKIL MCLEIN

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6 (aberrant Games)

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 10

AVERAGE: 7.6666

* * *

DEMARCUS KING

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 4

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8 (in the form of street smarts)

AVERAGE: 7.4444

* * *

GIZMO TORRENS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 9 (calculating nature)

POPULARITY: 3 (People feel he betrayed Nubu, who is extremely popular)

RESOURCEFULNESS: 10

AVERAGE: 7.5555

* * *

EMMELINE BLYTHE

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 9

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 10

AVERAGE: 7.8888

* * *

JAYLA DEAN

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 10

AVERAGE: 7

* * *

HINDI KABYLE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1 (Bloodbath)

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 10

AVERAGE: 6.5555

* * *

CORAL TIDE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 9

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 7.3333

* * *

LEXI CONCORD

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 4

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 5.3333

* * *

LUNA IRIKA

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.4444

* * *

DYLAN BROOKE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 7.4444

* * *

REEFE MORDECAI

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 4

INTELLIGENCE: 3 (dude volunteered for a cello)

PAST PERFORMANCE: 3

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 5 (kind of a meme now)

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 4.3333

* * *

DAISY STEM

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 2

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 10

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 6.5555

* * *

ERIN LINDELLE

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 9

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 8.7777

* * *

AMPHILIA FORTUNE

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4 (untimely death)

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 9

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 8.2222

* * *

MARLEY XANDER

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 10

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 7.7777

* * *

DATH ZACHARIAH

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 10

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 2

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 0

RESOURCEFULNESS: 3

AVERAGE: 5.7777

* * *

ARIELLE ERMIN

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 9.1111

* * *

WHYTE ROBERTS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4 (ha ha chair)

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 8 (enjoyed a boost from Floki)

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 6.8888

* * *

DYLAN AQUARIAS

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 4

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.7777

* * *

PATRICK DONEGAL

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 8.1111

* * *

FLOKI GRIMM

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 10

RESILIENCE: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 10

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 8.6666

* * *

CULIC NORPH

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 3

RESILIENCE: 3

INTELLIGENCE: 2

PAST PERFORMANCE: 2

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 3

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 0

RESOURCEFULNESS: 0

AVERAGE: 2.8888


	23. Private Session Report Part 3

ROXIN WAYDES

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 4

INTELLIGENCE: 5

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 4

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 2 (everyone forgot he was there)

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 4.5555

* * *

DANIEL MONDINS

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: N/A (cloning irregularities)

INTELLIGENCE: N/A (cloning irregularities)

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 0

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: N/A (Cloning irregularities)

AVERAGE: 4

SPECIAL NOTES: Daniel's cloning was engineered by Snow and Qin

* * *

SARLA MONDINS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 9 (she learns with each death)

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 1

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 6.6666

* * *

SITA ALAYA

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.2222

* * *

SCOTT SHARPE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 2

POPULARITY: 4

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 5.6666

* * *

SAMMY VOLTAGE

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE:9 (she's very positive)

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5 (irregular Games)

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 3 (can be a little competitive)

POPULARITY: 10

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 7

* * *

KERRY SELMOSA

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 4

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 6.2222

* * *

ALLY TESLA

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 3

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

CAIN PANDER

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 10 (cloning irregularities)

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 10 (cloning irregularities)

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 3

SPECIAL NOTE: Snow's order- minus 10 for rebelliousness

AVERAGE: 5.6666

* * *

TOTEM SWEENEY

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 7.8888

* * *

MUSTANG COBALT

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 3 (6, minus three for common sense)

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 6

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 3 (doesn't like bad guys)

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 4

AVERAGE: 5.7777

* * *

NAIROBI ELLIS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 1

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

VOLVO COURVAILE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 7.7777

* * *

HEMI SERGIUS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 4 (as a nurse, she puts others first)

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 0 (duh, nurse)

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

FERRARI BENZ

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 4 (6 minus 2 for common sense)

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.8888

* * *

SOFIA FERRARI

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4

RESILIENCE: 4

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 6

* * *

ADONIA CHILD

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9 (bonus for agility)

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 7.6666

* * *

KEGN YUEHAN

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 5

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 2

POPULARITY: 3

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 4.7777

* * *

HELENA INKA

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 10 (due to brain damage)

INTELLIGENCE: 5

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 5

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 4 (overlooked)

RESOURCEFULNESS: 4

AVERAGE: 4.8888

* * *

EVER FELLOWS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 8

* * *

MAY WILDA

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 5

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 9

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

SPECIAL NOTES: Snow's orders- minus 10 for rebelliousness

AVERAGE: 5.6666

* * *

JASMINE ASHENVALE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6 (unexpected death)

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 7.4444

* * *

VIOLET ROBBINS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 1

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

DESIREE REDWOOD

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 7.8888

* * *

JODIE JACKSON

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 6.4444

* * *

VESTER MORTANA

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 10 (WTF why is he this popular?)

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.2222

* * *

DENIM BELLTIDE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 3

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 4

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 4.7777

* * *

FLANNEL TWIST

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 10 (Where did THAT come from?!)

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 6.6666

* * *

VANNY CHANCRI

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 2

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 5.7777

* * *

MARTHA LEWIS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

BRENNA SEGALE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 2

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 5.7777


	24. Private Session Report Part 4

EDDIN CAVITCH

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 4

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 2

POPULARITY: 3

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 4.5555

* * *

ALAYZA MONT

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 3

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 9

POPULARITY: 3

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 5.6666

* * *

CAVENDAR JONES

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.4444

* * *

BLAISE WESLEY

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 4

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 1

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 5

* * *

RYKER MERLIN

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 3

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 5.6666

* * *

HABER DASHER

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 2

PAST PERFORMANCE: 0 (girl died in the Bloodbath twice)

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 3

FEROCITY: 5 (0 for women, 10 for men)

POPULARITY: 0

RESOURCEFULNESS: 3

AVERAGE: 3.8888

* * *

SILVER FLOWER

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7 (somehow she managed to convince Pray to train her again)

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 0

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 2 (in defense of her allies)

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

ZIBBY SPOOLEY

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 10

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 9

FEROCITY: 10 (not malevolent so much as she doesn't care about death)

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 10

AVERAGE: 8.1111

* * *

JAKE DIAZ

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 5

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 6

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 4

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 5.6666

* * *

THALIA ANDERSON

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 6

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 2

POPULARITY: 3

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 5.1111

* * *

BLISS BETE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 4

INTELLIGENCE: 4

PAST PERFORMANCE: 3

DRIVE TO WIN: 6

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 0

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 3

AVERAGE: 4.1111

* * *

MIA BARNES

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.5555

* * *

AUTUMN KANE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 5

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 4

RESOURCEFULNESS: 3

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

COOPER WOODSON

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 5.7777

* * *

TARIQ BLUEGRASS

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 2 (lowered significantly by mental issues)

INTELLIGENCE: 3

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 4

SKILLS PERFORMED: 4

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 1

RESOURCEFULNESS: 3

AVERAGE: 3.7777

* * *

MILLER THRESHER

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 0

RESILIENCE: 0

INTELLIGENCE: 1

PAST PERFORMANCE: 0

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 0

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 0

RESOURCEFULNESS: 0

AVERAGE: 1.7777 (CONGRATULAAAATIONS! On being the WORST TRIBUTE EVER!)

* * *

COTTYN THIMBLE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 3

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

JEANIE CLAY

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 7.8888

* * *

CITLALI KENYI

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.7777

* * *

LYANN LEVETT

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 7.2222

* * *

ELLE KAMA

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 3

RESOURCEFULNESS: 4

AVERAGE: 5.2222

* * *

LEVI FIELDS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 3

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 5.7777

* * *

EVE MARTINEZ

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 6

SKILLS PERFORMED: 4

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 5

* * *

ORLAND CORRADO

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 7.4444

* * *

PHILIP KOZLOV

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 6 (mental state affected by addiction)

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 6.8888

* * *

GAEL ORFORD

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 2

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 5.6666

* * *

ETHEL BULHERA

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 6.1111

* * *

MATI BERLIN

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8 (4 plus 4 because her allies are fiercely protective)

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 5

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6 (that was some tasty soup)

FEROCITY: 0

POPULARITY: 10

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

XEGON SAMUEL

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 8

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 7.5555

* * *

POTATO SPRINGFIELD (Come on, his name's not Parker. It's Potato)

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 2?

PAST PERFORMANCE: 3 (irregular Games)

DRIVE TO WIN: 0

SKILLS PERFORMED: 0

FEROCITY: 0

POPULARITY: 10

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6 (he stayed alive before he got Reaped, anyway)

AVERAGE: 4.2222

* * *

SOYA TORES

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4

RESILIENCE: 4

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 6

* * *

OLIVIER FOWLER

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 7.3333

* * *

VEXTRIX WEBB

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 8

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 7.8888

* * *

HOBAN TAM

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 3

DRIVE TO WIN: 6

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 2

POPULARITY: 3

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 4.7777

* * *

ZINNIA FRASER

PHYSICALSTRENGTH: 4

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 6.4444

* * *

ANISE HAEFELLE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 0

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 2 (in defense of allies)

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

ZACH CONNIUIS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 10 (Dude's _massive!_ )

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 5

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 3

AVERAGE: 6.4444

* * *

GRAYN MESSIEL

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 2

POPULARITY: 4

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 4.8888

* * *

DARIA JUNIUS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 6

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 7

* * *

JAY DALLAS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 8

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 6 (very loyal to allies)

SKILLS PERFORMED: 8

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 7.3333

* * *

AUSTIN DALLAS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 9

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.7777

* * *

KUMA SWAIN

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 3

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 5.7777

* * *

TATIANA KOKOLO

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 4 (mental state affected by delusions that she is an animal)

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 7

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

ANTHRA MINE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 6

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 7

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 7

* * *

JASON HENDRIX

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 6

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 1

RESOURCEFULNESS: 4

AVERAGE: 5.4444

* * *

AURORA EVERGROVE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 4

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 6

* * *

FIELD EVERGREEN

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 6

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 8

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

SPECIAL NOTE: Snow's orders- minus 10 points for rebelliousness

AVERAGE: 5.6666

* * *

ASPEN IMENSE

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 3 (due to extreme emaciation)

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 4

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5 (Aspen was too weak to fully show his skills)

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 4

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 5.5555

* * *

DAYLEY HARRVIS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4

RESILIENCE: 4

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 10

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 5.8888

* * *

ALIARA BAVIER

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 5

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 6

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.3333

* * *

NASH FORGER

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 1

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 5

POPULARITY: 10

RESOURCEFULNESS: 6

AVERAGE: 6

* * *

SMUDGE KELLS

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4 (due to malnutrition)

RESILIENCE: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 5 (don't touch that girl's food)

POPULARITY: 8

RESOURCEFULNESS: 9

AVERAGE: 7.1111

* * *

GADELOTH GRIMSLEY

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 9

RESILIENCE: 4

INTELLIGENCE: 3

PAST PERFORMANCE: 5

DRIVE TO WIN: 4 (too focused on killing to remember to live)

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5 (killing really isn't that impressive)

FEROCITY: 10

POPULARITY: 2

RESOURCEFULNESS: 3

AVERAGE: 4.9999

* * *

ALINTA FINTAN

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 9

DRIVE TO WIN: 10

SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 8

POPULARITY: 9

RESOURCEFULNESS: 8

AVERAGE: 7.7777

* * *

VESPER LYND

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 5

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 3

DRIVE TO WIN: 10 (Wow, she took a level in badass)

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7 (see above note)

FEROCITY: 9

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 5

AVERAGE: 6.4444

* * *

ALDER PEACEBROOK

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 6

RESILIENCE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 7

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8  
SKILLS PERFORMED: 5

FEROCITY: 3

POPULARITY: 5

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 6.2222

* * *

PEACH UNK

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 9

INTELLIGENCE: 5

PAST PERFORMANCE: 8

DRIVE TO WIN: 9

SKILLS PERFORMED: 6

FEROCITY: 9

POPULARITY: 4

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7

AVERAGE: 7.1111

* * *

 _There you go. There it is. Now please... mercy..._


	25. Scanners

**OMG SNOWSTAR WAS RIGHT I COULD HAVE USED BUNNIES! Or sheep, like yarn. Derp.**

 **I forgot Daria was from the Capitol. Her popularity score should be higher. It's not important for the but I added it just for the record.**

* * *

Flash Wire- District Three male

I already knew I wasn't going to get a good score. I'd get a good score for someone _my age,_ but not an actual good score. I watched all the names and scores flash by. Some were higher than expected, some were lower than expected, and most were normal. Probably the most surprising was Onyx's. Everyone knew they did something to him when they cloned him. There were lots of rumors swirling around, but I didn't want to get involved. The Capitol didn't want people to know, and I didn't want to get their attention.

The different stats were nice. They meant that people who weren't visibly strong were judged more fairly. Alinta, for example, didn't look like much on the outside. In a normal private session, she would have gotten a 5 or 6. That was what she got in the conventional categories, but her insane ferocity and resilience bumped her up to the upper half of the Tributes. It made for a much more specific and precise score.

The last name, Peach Unk- _that poor girl, what an ugly name-_ flashed across the screen. Something pricked in my head, like a tiny thought, and then a rush of splitting heat.

* * *

Thalia Anderson- District Nine female

So many of us didn't even have a chance. This was going to be a slaughter unlike anything even the Capitol had done. We just wanted to be kids. That's all most of us would ever be.

Something clicked in my head.

* * *

Dath Zachariah- District Four male

 _Look at all those losers with low scores-_

* * *

Levi Fields- District Ten male

When I saw the scores, I wasn't disappointed or scared. I was just angry. They dragged us here and made us try to convince them we deserved to stay alive. The injustice of it gutted me. There was nothing to do about it, and it wasn't a fight that could be won. All we would ever do was try. I was so angry, my head started to hurt.

* * *

Silver Flower- District Eight female

Screams like I'd never heard were coming from me. It started so normal. Everyone in the alliance was sitting around a table, eating lunch as the scores popped up. There was a soft _pop,_ and Bliss' head tore apart. Chunks of meat and brain splattered everyone at the table. Zinnia had been sitting across from her, and her entire face was covered in red. I tried to look away, but when I did, the screams just got louder.

* * *

Bliss Bete- District Nine female

 _This fried chicken is so yummy. I'm glad Alinta did so well. Even Zinnia did okay. We're gonna be okay in the Arena. We'll be all right as long as we're toge-_

* * *

Field Evergreen- District Twelve male

I got a bad score, but that was okay. It meant I was less of a target. With all these Tributes, it was good to get overlooked. It wasn't the worst score, either. That would be Miller.

Vesper's name flashed across the screen. She did really well, considering. Only a few names were left. Plenty of them were pretty close to mine. I got a bad score, but that wasn't the end.

 _Click._

* * *

Elle Kama- District Ten female

Another disappointment. It was nothing new, and it wasn't the worst thing to happen to me. It just meant I would have to work harder, and I was used to that.

After my name came up, I got up to use the restroom. I looked up into the mirror as I washed my hands. For a second, I saw my head split apart.

* * *

Brenna Segale- District Eight female

"I didn't do so well either," I said to Elle when we met in the bathroom. It felt weird not making conversation, and I wanted to commiserate with someone.

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Elle said. "Or at least this won't make a difference."

The conversation ended abruptly.

* * *

Ember Steiner- District Two

"Excuse me," I said as I got up from the table Shui and I were sitting at. I opened the door to the restroom and did my business. As I washed my hands, Elle and Brenna were at the sinks beside me. They were already talking, and I didn't want to butt in.

Elle and Brenna jerked suddenly, splashing water on me. I saw color in the corner of my eye and turned to see them falling to the ground, reflected in the blood-streaked mirror.

 _Oh my god what was that?_

 _The_ scores.

" _Shui!"_ I screamed as I tore out of the bathroom and back into the cafeteria. My heart stopped when I saw him bending over a headless body. He tried to ask me what was going on, but I just clung to him and cried.

* * *

Culic Norph- District Five male

Someone messed up. I did a lot better than that. At least they got Miller's score right. But maybe this was a good thing. If everyone thought I was weak, it would be even easier for me to kill them. Yes, this was definitely a good thing.

It was not a good thing.

* * *

Hemi Sergius- District Six female

All around the cafeteria, a soft click echoed off the walls. My first thought was that I had to help them. The second was that it was useless.

* * *

Lexi Concord- District Four female

All the others from Four were Careers. I was the only one who didn't want this. Maybe that meant my drive was higher, sort of. They all wanted to win, but I wanted to _live._ I didn't care about honor or looking cool. The only thing on my mind was death. Then there wasn't anything on my mind.

* * *

Reefe Mordecai- District Four male

 _Okay, you still have a shot. Don't psyche yourself up. Maybe you had the dumbest reason for volunteering, but so did Sky, and she won. You can do this. You can-_

* * *

Potato Springfield- District Eleven

The Capitol had boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, potato cakes, whipped potatoes, scalloped potatoes, baked potatoes, potato chips, and lots more. I had some of all of those on my plate, and I tried every kind. I heard a hiss, and then I saw my brains for a second. They looked like potatoes.

* * *

Hoban Tam- District Eleven male

"At the Bloodbath, let's just run away. There's too many people," I said.

"Definitely," Vextrix said. I didn't even really have to say it. She always preferred discretion over valor.

"What do we do if we're really far away on the platforms?" Vextrix asked.

"Let's go whichever way looks hardest and meet up as soon as we can," I said. Then there was a hiss, and Vextrix was on her own.

* * *

Aspen Imense- District Twelve male

I never wanted to stop eating. No matter how much I ate, there was always more. I didn't have to worry about running out or not having any. There was more food than I thought existed in all the world. I would never be hungry again.

And I wasn't.

* * *

Gadeloth Grimsley- District Twelve male

 _Maybe I'll kill that loud girl from Eight first. I bet she makes the best screams. Or maybe the do-gooder from Eleven. I'll do in right in front of her allies._

If I hadn't died when my head exploded, I'd have been really mad to hear about what happened. It meant so many fewer people to kill.

* * *

Grayn Messiel- District Eleven male

After seeing the scores, I knew who to avoid most of all. Some of them were deceiving, though. Floki did really well, but I knew he didn't like killing kids. Alinta also did well, but that didn't mean she was going to run around wreaking havoc. I had to use my common sense.

 _Click._

* * *

Lisette Crowley- District Three female

 _Don't throw up don't throw up I know Potato's face is on your face but don't throw up that will just make it worse go to the bathroom wash it off and_ don't throw up!

* * *

Emmie Falkin- District Three female

 _Mati- Don't kill her. She's not a threat and her allies will be mad._

 _Totem- Ladies' man_

I never did finish my additions to my list. The last sentence I wrote ended in a spatter of blood.

* * *

Decimal Touchstone- District Three female

There was a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. There were too many Tributes this time. The Games were bloated and overfull. The Gamemakers were going to do something- I just knew it. For half a second, I found out I was right.

* * *

May Wilda- District Seven female

They were never going to let someone as salty as me win. I'd still try, but they'd throw things at me until no one could get past it. They didn't always win, though. Maybe I was more than they reckoned with.

 _Click._

* * *

Tatiana Kokolo- District Twelve male

The coppery smell of blood flooded my nose. No wolf had ever made such a successful hunt. Blood streaked the floor, so deep it puddled in some places. Usually fresh meat was welcome, but not like this.

* * *

Hindi Kabyle- Distric Three female

As I fled from the massacre in the cafeteria, I slipped on blood. I fell heavily across a body so covered with gore I couldn't tell who it had been. My hand pushed into its gaping neck as I tried to shove myself up. I didn't remember how I got to my room after that.

* * *

Jayla Dean- District Three female

 _There's no end. They'll always go farther. No matter how evil we think the Capitol is, it's worse._

* * *

Kuma Swain- District Eleven male

 _During the Bloodbath, I need to just run. There will be so many people running, it will be a crapshoot who dies. Isn't that always the way? So much of the Games is out of your-_

* * *

Gael Orford- District Ten male

No votes this time. Just you and your decisions. It's you who determines whether or not you die. No one will do it for you but yourself.

I was wrong. It's always the Capitol who decides.

* * *

Eve Martinez- District Ten female

The Bloodbath was coming soon. I didn't want to see it. I couldn't bear the screams. I couldn't even bear the screams of animals. Humans were so much worse. Screaming, bleeding, tearing, wailing horror... I couldn't bear it. In the end, I didn't have to.

* * *

Jake Diaz- District Eight male

One of our alliance would be the first of the alliance to die. That was obvious, of course, but it was still on my mind. I looked up when something shifted in my head. I met Cooper's eye as he did the exact same thing.

* * *

Cooper Diaz- District Nine male

 _Oh, Jake felt it too. Wonder-_

* * *

Electra Magenta- District Three female

Des and Akari were so strong. Why did they even like me? I was the weakest link. Des said I was smart, but she was smart, too, and so was Akari. They might be better off without me.

They were about to find out.

* * *

Roxin Waydes- District Five male

They could keep their scores. I didn't want their approval or their help. I'd do this all by myself.

 _You hear that? I don't need-_

* * *

Scott Sharpe- District Five male

There were some really pretty girls among all the Tributes. I'd been away from home long enough that it seemed okay to look. I wasn't going to try anything anyway. This was no place for romance. I just liked looking at some pretty faces. It was a good thing I didn't see what some of those faces became.

* * *

Cain Pander- District Five male

 _If I get home, I'll have to be very careful. If they find out what I think, they'll-_

* * *

Mia Barnes- District Nine female

 _This can't be real. It must be a bad dream. I want to wake up._

* * *

Kegn Yuehan- District Seven male

Most of the Tributes were eating or watching the scores in their lounges. I was in the library, catching a minute for myself.

"How is it so far?" the librarian asked about the book he helped me find.

"It's great!" I said. My head pricked, and I winced.

* * *

Helena Inka- District Seven female

If I'd known what was about to happen to my head, even _I_ would have been scared.

* * *

Alayza Mont- District Eight female

 _Nu-uh! I did better than that! Someone done screwed-_

* * *

Eddin Cavitch- District Eight male

There were so many people in the cafeteria. It was big enough that it wasn't crowded, but there were still a lot of people. I didn't see it, but five seconds later, there weren't as many people.

* * *

Blaise Wesley- District Eight male

I was still getting food when everyone else sat down, since my panini was made to order.

 _They better not talk smack about me while I'm gone,_ I thought. I never found out.

* * *

Ryker Merlin- District Eight male

I could outrun a lot of things. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't outrun my own head.

* * *

Haber Dasher- District Eight female

 _So many odious men. People say I talk about men all the time. I can't help it when there are so many of them! Too many men. Just too many-_

* * *

Vanny Chancri- District Eight male

 _Carpe Diem._ That was always my motto. Unoriginal, maybe, but that was because it was a good one. I had a second chance to seize the day. I had to make the most of it. There was a whole world out there ripe for the taking.

Before I could seize the day, it seized me.

* * *

Mustang Cobalt- District Six male

 _Yuck. That's really gross. I should have picked something else. I still have to eat my vegetable, though. Next time I'll take brocc-_

* * *

Miller Thresher- District Nine male

They always do this to me. Probably they're trying to help me out by making me a smaller target. If everyone knew how strong I was, they'd all gang up on me. _Not that it would ma-_

* * *

Denim Belltide- District Eight male

I wished I could take some of this food home to my family. We never got anything like this. Our whole District could have eaten in this cafeteria. What a waste.

 _Click._

* * *

Tariq Bluegrass- District Nine male

The Nine lounge was nice. There was always someone in it, and it was brightly lit. I didn't like sleeping alone in my room. I never wanted to be alone again, and I wasn't.

* * *

Martha Lewis- District Eight female

 _They're dead they're all dead no no no they're everywhere._

* * *

Nash Forger- District Twelve male

Nubu was bent over, heaving and shaking. We were eating lunch together when it happened. I was scared, too, but it was easy to put it aside as I tried to comfort him. Whatever I was feeling, it was ten times worse for him.

* * *

 **I kept saying I had a plan for making sure the Games didn't get overcrowded. Here it is! As I did the private sessions, I first just did them and saw where the scores ended up. Then I picked a cutoff (5.7777) and adjusted people until they were where I wanted them. Most weird scores are explained by that. In-universe they culled the "weakest" Tributes, but I did it based on the ones I thought didn't have a chance. I just took them out now so the Games would be more streamlined. I _did_ make some exceptions. People that never got written or died in the Bloodbath in their original Games were usually spared, and if submitters had a lot of Tributes, I tended to cull a few with the lowest chances while trying to spare at least one from most submitters. The votes helped me pick which weak Tributes I should let squeak by, but most of you picked people I wasn't going to kill anyway. The pre-Pre-Bloodbath chapters were me trying to give as many of these people POVs as possible, leaning toward those who got abandoned in previous stories and never had any POVs.**

 **Obituaries:**

 **136th place: Miller Thresher- Chip in head exploded**

 **His went off first, just saying. All the rest went off at once. Miller always dies first and I wanted to keep the tradition.**

 **Pre-Bloodbath Deaths (they're all at the same time and I ain't got time to calculate ordinal numbers for everyone)**

 **Flash Wire- He was 11 years old. Since he wasn't insanely popular, it wasn't going to happen.**

 **Emmie Falkin- Out of all the Threes, I didn't think she was the one people would rally behind.**

 **Decimal Touchstone- There was nothing wrong with her, I just needed more people to kill and she had more story her first time around.**

 **Electra Magneta- Totally nothing wrong with her, I just needed more to kill and Tinks had two other strong contenders.**

 **Lexi- I didn't think she had enough fans because most people didn't know her.**

 **Reefe- Yo he wasn't going to win.**

 **Dath- I had plenty of killers and he was superfluous.**

 **Culic- He was a goat. He would have been fun but I didn't have space.**

 **Roxin- No problems with him, I just needed more bodies and he didn't seem like the 1/140 who would win.**

 **Scott- I liked Scott. I just needed more kills to reduce numbers and picked him because at least he got a lot of spotlight last time.**

 **Cain- He was rebellious and I used it as an excuse.**

 **Mustang- I knew Jayman preferred Patrick and Jay and wouldn't mind Mustang.**

 **Kegn- I just plain needed more bodies. There was nothing wrong with him.**

 **Helena- Same as Kegn. She wasn't extremely strong and she probably would have died eventually.**

 **May- She was somewhat rebellious and I used it as an excuse.**

 **Denim- Too nice to win.**

 **Vanny- I Needed more bodies and he wasn't a huge standout.**

 **Brenna- I really liked Brenna but more needed to go and she had a lot of POVs before.**

 **Eddin- I kind of forgot about him, which didn't bode well for his voting chances.**

 **Alayza- She was always a buffoonish bully character, so I just killed her now. No one would miss her :(**

 **Blaise- I knew Jayman would prefer this to Patrick or Jay. I also thought this would have an interesting effect on Jay.**

 **Ryker- He wasn't popular enough to win.**

 **Haber- She was a joke character so I just did it now.**

 **Jake- I needed more bodies and knew Jay (the submitter, not Jay Dallas) wouldn't mind.**

 **Thalia- She was't harsh enough to win in this level of competition.**

 **Bliss- She was literally marked as a Bloodbath in her form. I aim to please.**

 **Cooper- Another Jay death.**

 **Tariq- Far too unstable to win. He was really compelling, but I didn't have the room.**

 **Miller- RIP in pieces.**

 **Elle- She was too nice to win.**

 **Levi- I needed more deaths and his submitter had a lot of Tributes, so I culled some.**

 **Eve- I didn't think she'd be popular enough, since it will take a lot this time.**

 **Gael- He's a loner and doesn't trust anyone, so I thought that would get him in the end.**

 **Potato- Dude wasn't gonna win.**

 **Hoban- I needed more kills and he was a longer shot than Vextrix, so I went with the odds.**

 **Grayn- I just didn't think he was going to be popular enough to win.**

 **Kuma- I needed more kills and he at least had some development last time.**

 **Jason- I forgot him a few times and thought he wouldn't be popular enough.**

 **Field- Didn't seem to have enough fans.**

 **Aspen- Too harsh a personality to get a lot of fans.**

 **Gadeloth- I didn't need more killers.**

 **So that takes care of 41 of them!**


	26. Chemical Bonds 20 and Cain

**Holy Long Chapter Batman! This is a big alliance, plus I was supposed to write something for Cain and forgot. So he didn't randomly come back fromt the dead... though that wouldn't be so random in this universe.**

* * *

Cain Pander- District Five male

This time, it wouldn't be dodgeball and trivia games. It would be hunting and fighting and killing, so that was what I was practicing.

"Hey, Cain." I hadn't even heard Nash come up. I set down the mannequin I was gutting and turned to him. "Wow, you're really going at it. We're going to be super safe."

"What are you talking about?"

"What? What do you mean? We're allies," Nash said. The confused trepidation in his face almost made me pity him.

"We _were_ allies," I said. "Those days are over."

"Why?" Nash asked. "Did I do something?"

"It's nothing you did. It's something you can never _be._ You'll never be anything but a load. We're all in this for ourselves. I just finally realized that."

"You don't mean that," Nash said. He was smiling nervously, and his eyes shone. "Why are you kidding like this?"

"Leave me alone. I'm trying to train," I said. Nash turned and ran away, and I went back to trying to stay alive.

* * *

Tatsuya Hikaru- District Three male

 _"Did you know your sister is missing?"_

My sister was missing. How could I concentrate on the Games when my baby sister was missing? Where was she? Was she okay? I knew what kind of people lived in her world. Nothing was free there. Everyone had an agenda and everyone wanted their piece. Miyuji was smart and she could take care of herself, but I didn't _want_ her to take care of herself. I wanted her to be at home, as safe as I wasn't.

"You have to find her," I begged Acee. I'd been pestering her ever since I stepped off the stage. She'd seen me coming and just braced herself. She didn't even try to weasel out of it. I knew people, and she was a bad liar.

"I've been trying," she said. "The kid's smart. I don't know where she is. I know how to make things. I don't know how to find people."

"Hire someone. Hire _everyone,"_ I said. "I'll pay you back when I win."

"'When' you win," Acee mused. "I'm rich, kid. I've got half a dozen flatfeet looking for her. She's a punk girl hiding in a punk underworld. How do you find a shadow in the dark?"

 _I don't care how hard it is. It can't be impossible. It_ can't _be impossible._ I knew her better than anyone else. I was the only one who could find her. If we didn't find her before I died, we'd never find her. I searched my brains, trying just once to think like my sister.

"She'll try to sponsor me." I was suddenly certain. "Watch the sponsors. Can you track them down?" I fixed my eyes on Acee, trying to stare her into agreement.

"Computers aren't my expertise," she said. "Beetee, however, can do anything. I can't guarantee we'll find her, but all of Three has your back."

* * *

Shinju Matsushita- District Three female

 _You have to. You owe it to her. You've been a monster your whole life. Act like a human for once._

It seemed insurmountable. How do you come back from something like this?

She wouldn't even believe me. _I_ wouldn't believe me. No matter what, I definitely couldn't go right up to her. I already scared her enough. I needed an intermediary, and I knew exactly who to ask.

"I want to make things right with Ally," I said to Lyte. "Can you help me?"

"Yeah, definitely," he said. "Like, you want to talk to her?"

"I want to talk to her, but she's probably terrified of me. There is nothing I can say to make her feel safe. Everyone knows how nice you are. Can you tell her I want to talk to her and tell her sorry I am?"

I waited in my room with a weight in the pit of my stomach until Lyte came back. When I heard him at the door, I threw it open in fear and anticipation. Then I gasped and backed into the corner of the room, because Ally was with him.

"What's the deal?" she demanded, sticking her finger out at me. I pressed myself into the wall, trying to look like less of a threat. "Do you think you can just make everything right? Why do you even care? You're a monster."

"I can't make it better," I said, and Ally hesitated. "I can't ask you to forgive me. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I _was_ a monster, and that will always be in my past. I wanted to talk to you so I could tell you that I'm not anymore. It doesn't fix what I did, but it means you don't have to be scared of me this time."

"What changed?" Ally asked, and she actually seemed interested.

"I was a bitter, hurting girl who pushed it at everyone else because that was easier than changing. Someone finally showed me that you can't stop hurting by making someone else hurt."

* * *

Jasmine Ashenvale- District Seven female

Amphilia wouldn't want to ally with me again. The pickings were different this time. There were plenty of people stronger and better than me. We'd done all we could for each other. We never tried to make anything more of it. Some people made friends in the Arena. Tillo even fell in love. Nothing good ever came of those things. Neither Amphilia nor I wanted any part of them.

My new alliance was just as strong, in different ways. We had our brainiacs, our sponsor charmers, our morale boosters, and our... mascot.

"You have a spirit animal, right?" Tatiana asked.

"Yes, a bear," I said. If she asked, I might tell about my tattoo. Or I might not. It was a very private and meaningful part of me.

"That's kind of like me. I have a wolf's soul," Tatiana said.

My first thought was something along the lines of _oh, blow it out your ear._ But that wasn't nice. Maybe I wasn't sure she really understood spirit animals, but who died and made me gatekeeper of totems? She had as much right to think _I_ didn't understand spirit animals. Even if she wasn't part of a tribe, that didn't bar her from accessing her spirit. We all had our own paths, and I couldn't tell her that hers wasn't valid.

"How did you know you were a wolf?" I asked. My own people had a long and involved process to identify and commune with your guide. Tatiana had to figure it out all on her own.

"When you look into a mirror, you know right away it's you, right? It's obvious you're looking at yourself. The first time I saw a wolf, it was a mirror. I knew I was seeing myself," she said.

 _That's pretty much it, isn't it?_ My own journey was different, but we were all looking for the same things. And I didn't begrudge Tatiana her identity and guidance. We all needed that.

* * *

Desiree Redwood- District Seven male

Electra was gone. I'd lost her before, but never like this. There was no time to prepare. I didn't even know what had happened at first. It started, and people were dying all around me. Once the dust started to settle, the survivors started to ask questions.

"What happened? Why are we left?"

"It's the scores," Velvet said from across the table in the cafeteria. "All the dead ones had low scores."

My blood turned to water. _Electra's score..._

She'd only left for a few minutes. She'd gone to fetch something from her room. I didn't even look up when she left. That was going to be the last time I ever saw her.

Somewhere in the hall, one of those headless bodies was her. She was walking to her room, and at some point, she was done. I'd walked past the spot before. Some plain, unassuming spot in that hall was where Electra's death was waiting, and I never even knew it. I would walk by it again before the Games began. Would I feel her ghost?

I could have gone out there and found her. In all the chaos, it would take an hour to clean up all the bodies. I didn't want to see it. Headless bodies were all around me, and they were empty vessels. Her body was out there, nothing but a oozing pulp where the head was. The head was all that mattered. The eyes were the window to the soul, and Electra's eyes were gone. The mind that made her who she was was in pieces. Everything that mattered about Electra was destroyed. I couldn't bear to see the remainder. It was nothing but a mocking reminder of what was.

* * *

Sammy Voltage- District Five female

 _Dear Camellia,_

 _I hear you're still alive! I'm very glad to hear that. Did you have a cool funeral for me? You better have cried, like, a lot. Who voted for me, anyway? I know it wasn't you. It wasn't Potato... who even votes for someone like me? I didn't do anything. I minded my own business and played ball._

 _How are things in Seven? Are you a manager yet? I bet not. No offense, but you're kind of lazy. Not that I should talk. I used to be kind of_ dead. _Did you get any money for not dying? I suppose not. If I win, I'll send lots of presents. If I don't, you better cry a lot again._

 _Charming's here, even though he didn't die! What do you think of that? Only a Career could be that boneheaded. I don't think he'll win, though. Most Victors aren't boneheaded. Just Jerky, and he's even worse than Charming._

 _I have a nice big alliance again, which is nice. I miss you, but my new allies are cool. There's Des, Shinju, Tatiana, Jayla, Sparkil, Tatsuya, and Zibby. Des is really tall and looks scary, but she's nice. Shinju used to be a vampire but she's not anymore, so she's cool. Tatiana thinks she's a wolf. I guess if I can be a clone, she can be a wolf. Jayla and Zibby are really smart. Tatsuya's kind of cute. And you already know what Sparkil is like._

 _Did they air what they did to the people with low scores? If they didn't, they'll probably block out this part, but I'll tell you anyway. They blew up all their heads. I'm honestly still in shock. Tatiana was only .1111 away from dying. When she found out, she threw up. I threw up too, but way before that. I hope they didn't show that part. I never want to see that again._

 _Anyway, I hope things are good in Seven. Things are as good as they can be here. Hope I see if you again, and if I don't, maybe next time. Remember, you said we're friends forever. That means if I win and you're eighty years old, you still have to be my friend._

 _See you soon,_

 _Sammy_

* * *

Zibby Spooly- District Nine female

Cain and Electra were gone just like that. This messed up our plans. More importantly, two people were dead, but I couldn't fix that. All I could change was our plans.

Cain wasn't that important anyway. He was weird and off-putting and I hadn't been sure he wouldn't turn on us anyway. Electra was the real loss. She was smart and creative, and she was Des's best friend. The damage to our morale was just as bad as the damage to our numbers.

 _How can I make this better, though?_ It didn't take long to come up with the answer. I couldn't. At least not the morale part. That was best left to Tatsuya and Sammy. I should stick with numbers and experiments.

 _Speaking of experiments..._ What should I do next? I hoped this Arena would also have technology, but I wasn't holding my breath. More likely I'd have to make do with somewhat more primitive materials.

But then, maybe having the means to win wasn't everything. Plenty of the people the Capitol just killed were capable of victory. They weren't the front-runners, but they could have done it. It was as much decided by Capitol opinion as any real survival ability. Or maybe they were decided _entirely_ by Capitol opinion. No one who was rebellious got by. I was surprised Peach didn't bite it, too.

So the _real_ survival training wasn't in any of the training room stations. The only thing that would keep me alive was being the Tribute the Capitol most approved on. I never was good at sucking up or being what people wanted me to be. That was the only survival skill, and it was about to be tested.

* * *

Tatiana Kokola- District Eleven female

My new pack was wonderful. They were good people. It was strange how such disparate people came together. Des and Electra started it, and it was Electra's idea to add Zibby. Des took a shine to Jasmine, and Zibby brought Tatsuya with her. That was when I joined in. Sammy kind of just showed up somewhere along the line. She was the one who added Shinju.

 _Hey, everyone. This is Shinju. Can she ally with us?_ She'd asked.

 _Pardon if I'm mistaken, but isn't that the vampire?_ Des had objected.

 _She_ used _to be. Not anymore,_ Sammy said.

 _I don't think that's how it works,_ Electra had chimed in.

 _Who would know better than a former vampire?_ Sammy had said.

So far Shinju hadn't made any trouble. She came to my room once and walked in without formally being invited, so that settled the matter for me. She seemed like a nice enough girl. She must have used up all her evil.

It seemed like a pretty good chance that one of us would win. There were a lot of us, and some of us were pretty strong. Des was more or less our alpha, and she probably had the best chance of us. Wolf packs didn't really have an "alpha" like people thought, but they did still have a leader. Des made it a long way every time she played. One of these days she was bound to win. As for me... well, every dog has her day.

* * *

JD Dean- Disrict Three female

Sometimes things turned out funny. Appaloosa killed me pretty quick and lasted half the game, but here I was and here she wasn't. She must not have been popular enough. The people from Twelve usually don't get much love. That's why they only had one Victor.

"The easiest plants to get acid from are, of course, citrus plants. Basic plants are harder to find, but they _are_ there. Honeysuckle and clematis both thrive in alkaline soil. If you see these plants, the water nearby is likely basic. It should be avoided for drinking, but it can be distilled to use its basic properties."

Hardly anyone ever went to the chemistry station. Zibby was more interested in the more flashy applications, but I was looking for some basic, no pun intended, knowledge. I couldn't depend on the Arena to provide things this time, and I couldn't count my sponsors before they hatched. If all I had was plants and rocks, I had to be able to build a computer with them. I scribbled notes on a pad while the instructor went on.

"The gympi-gympi plant has perhaps the most brutal defense mechanism. Its leaves are lined with tiny hypodermic needles full of acid. The slightest brush causes incapacitating pain so severe that sufferers have been known to kill themselves," the instructor said.

 _Ouch. I think I'll leave that one alone._

* * *

Sparkil McLein- District Three female

It was funny how so many Threes ended up in one alliance and how we all had different expertises. I was the coder, Zibby was the mad scientist, Jayla was the chemist, Tatsuya was a random orator, and Electra had been the tech whiz. We were two members down, but we could still do this.

I'd never liked Cain anyway. I saw what he did to Nash. If I'd really had integrity I would have stepped in, but I wanted to live, too. The very thing I hated Cain for was right there inside me. I hated Cain not only for what he did, but for showing me what I was willing to do. Now that he was gone, we could go back to pretending we were good people.

If anyone thought I would use my arm as a weapon, they wouldn't let me take it into the Arena. There were lots of things I could do with the wires and components inside, but I couldn't let anyone know about that. I didn't even really intend to do anything like that. I didn't want to risk my arm. The reward wasn't worth the risk.

There was one thing about a strong alliance that gave me trepidation. Strong allies had a better chance of living longer. That seemed obvious, but the implication was what mattered. Strong allies were strong because they'd done well before. They were both willing and able to kill. That extended to me as much as any other competition. Strong allies could carry you a long way, and when they got near the end, they could walk to the finish line over your body.

* * *

 **I forgot Fable's private session, so I edited the chapter.**


	27. Jayhawks and Akari

**Akari is in Chemical Bonds 2.0. I thought she was but I wasn't sure, so here she is.**

* * *

Akari Igneous- District Two female

Most people wouldn't think I would end up the only Career in an alliance. Careers usually stuck together so we could keep our enemies closer. That was one reason I _didn't_ go with the other Careers. With all those people, there were going to be more backstabbers and opportunists. Better to be the strongest member in an alliance that couldn't afford to lose me and was too scared to try anything than to be an average member of a cutthroat band of murderers. As much as they could, my allies would watch out for me. They were invested in my survival, because I was their biggest weapon.

I was the last member of my alliance to join. Lots of Tributes were scrambling to find any allies that would take them, since they knew there was safety in numbers- even more so this time. I could afford to let things fall into place and then shop around. Alliances were slow to form, and there were plenty I ruled out. The little kids were an obvious no. Jay and his friends were too goofy. Lisette and Violet wouldn't have said no, but that would only be because they were too scared. As soon as they could, they'd clear out- assuming I even _wanted_ to ally, which I didn't. I picked a solid, capable alliance that neatly filled in any skills I was lacking. Everyone benefited.

That said, the mere act of me joining this alliance made my new alliance the Careers' biggest target. We would have to deal with that throughout the Games, and we needed a plan. I wouldn't be able to participate in the Bloodbath past gathering supplies, since multiple people would be gunning for me. We would have to grab and run, trusting our more resourceful members to provide food and weapons. We all expected a well-stocked Arena, so that shouldn't be too hard. All the Tributes had to fear was Tributes themselves.

* * *

Jay Dallas- District Eleven male

You could do everything right and not make any mistakes, and still you might not win. That was life. It didn't make it any easier when you failed.

I should have known something like this was coming. We could have done something for Blaise, Cooper and Jake. We could have helped them with some skill that would have bumped their score over the threshold. Cooper died because of one-ninth of a point. Five more minutes training might have been enough. He could still be alive if we'd spent five more minutes with him.

"It's not your fault," Austin said.

"I don't care if wasn't my fault. I still should have stopped it," I said. I couldn't say what was really on my mind. _What if it was you?_

"You did everything you could," Austin said.

"And it wasn't enough! It's never enough! I do everything I can, and we still always die. _You_ still always die," I said.

"No one lives forever," Austin said. "I wouldn't even _want_ to in Panem."

"You don't even care?" I asked.

"While I'm alive, I like living. When I'm dead... I don't care," Austin said.

I shouldn't have had to have that conversation. We shouldn't be talking about dying and being okay with it. We should talk about normal boy things, like baseball and girls and gross jokes. Even if one of us got through this time, we'd never have a normal life. In Panem, all you could hope for was something instead of nothing.

* * *

Zach Connouis- District Eleven male

"Hey everyone! I brought pizza!"

Logan was Blaise's best friend. Jay blamed himself for everything. Austin was trying to help his brother. Patrick was standing around awkwardly wondering what to feel about the deaths of allies he barely knew. That left me to keep things normal. If I was the comic relief, now was the time for relief.

"Oh boy! Pizza!" Patrick nearly shrieked, trying to pull everyone's mood up by his example. "I hope you got a lot! We're _really_ hungry!"

"I got three meat for Jay and Logan, cheese for Austin the weirdo, and deluxe for me. Plus they had seafood, which looked disgusting, but you're from Four."

"That doesn't mean I put seafood on _pizza,"_ Patrick said. "That's disgusting."

Normally three pizzas wouldn't be enough for six boys, but some of us weren't pulling our weight. Troy, Patrick and I led the way, and Austin pretended to eat a slice, but Jay just looked at his forlornly as it arced down toward the plate. The cheese started to drip off, revealing the red sauce.

 _Oh shoot. I fricked up._ It looked like a face- a face with the skin all blown off. A rogue olive on my slice tasted suddenly like an oozing slice of eyeball, and I gagged. All the joking in the world couldn't make this one right. Only time could heal this, and we didn't have time.

* * *

Troy Cahill- District Two male

I should have been the one least affected by Blaise, Cooper and Jake. Careers didn't care for anyone but themselves, right? I should have been glad there was less competition. I wished I was as cold and hard as my instructors tried to make me. All that training and conditioning made my muscles bigger, but it didn't make my heart smaller. Those three were my friends, just as much as anyone I knew back in Two. We were ready to fight and die together, and when their time came, I didn't even get a chance to help them. There was nothing in the world a Career hated more than being helpless.

All my life, I'd been told that emotion was weak. I never bought into it. Years in the Academy had made me better at _hiding_ my emotion, and that was why I didn't seem as sad as the others, but I was going through the same grieving process as they were. It didn't matter if you were the strongest person in Panem if there was no one to share it with. I worked hard, but I also played hard. Friends were what made life worth living.

Life in Two was a bundle of contradictions. They told us to bring back honor for our District, implying that the people in our District were worth fighting for. Then they told us to kill everyone in our way and that life was meaningless unless you could protect yourself. Then they said we should volunteer so someone else didn't have to go. Why were we expected to volunteer for the weak in our District and kill the weak in other Districts? That was why the training was so long and why they insulated us to much in the Academy. They didn't want us to start thinking.

* * *

Logan Quinn- District Five

Blaise and me were blood brothers. Nothing, not _nothing,_ could break that. If you broke that, you were worse than nothing, even worse than a snitch.

People outside of gangs didn't understand. You didn't join a gang until every other part of life rejected you. No father, no brothers, nobody cared about you. You finally found someone who gave a crap about you and you were ready to give anything for them. A gang was a group of people who loved each other as fiercely as the rest of the world hated them.

I wanted to be a good ally, but I needed to be alone. I went back to my room and slammed the door. I wished I could slam it so hard it would fall right off its hinges. I wanted to kick it until the wood splintered and my foot was riddled with cuts.

I took the lamp off my bedside table and threw it at the window. They must have been afraid someone would try to kill themselves, because the lamp bounced off the glass and hit the carpet. I threw it again, at the wall this time, so I could see it shatter. I picked up one of the shards and dragged it down the mahogany bed frame that cost more than any of our lives. It left a deep, ugly gash. I cut another gash, so deep the shard cut into my hand. Someone had to bleed for my blood brother. I couldn't hurt anyone in the Capitol or they'd hurt my brothers at home, but someone had to bleed.

* * *

Austin Dallas- District Eleven

They say when you lose someone, sometimes you don't feel anything, and that's okay. I didn't feel anything, but it didn't seem okay.

Three of my friends were dead. In the Arena, we wouldn't have had time to dwell on it. Losing them here was even worse than watching them die in the Games. We were supposed to go back to life like everything was normal. We were even supposed to keep preparing for the Arena. When we weren'y minutes away from death, it was harder to forget.

I just felt empty. Blaise, Cooper and Jake were there, and now they weren't. It was like when you climb the stairs and you think one more stair is there and your foot slams down on nothing. It never went away, though. No matter how many times I climbed those stairs, I still expected that last one. Something was missing, and I wished I missed it more.

 _They were going to do eventually anyway, at least two of them._ I didn't want to think things like that. I wanted to be sad, like Jay, or angry, like Logan. Anything was better than just not caring.

I was one of the more functional members of the alliance, and I felt obligated to care for the others. If I focused on them, I could ignore how empty I was inside. If I cared for them, that meant I was still a good person even though I didn't care about my dead friends. I wondered if our parents did the same when they lost us.

* * *

Patrick Donegal- District Four male

I'd never in my life been so ashamed. Forty people were dead, and I was happy.

 _Relieved_ was more like it. Three of my allies, as well as more than thirty other kids, were dead, and all I could think about was that it made my chances better. I was so focused on getting home to Shane that I was ready to throw forty children away. If that didn't make me the bad guy, I didn't know what did.

All my allies were in various stages of disarray. Jay was in despair, Logan was making himself feel angry so he wouldn't feel the pain, Zach was nearly hysterically trying to make things normal, Austin was being the team mom, and I was lurking in the back, wondering where I fit in. I liked Cooper, Jake and Blaise, but I didn't have the longstanding bonds the others had. I was new to the alliance, like branch grafted onto a tree. It seemed I was also more selfish than the others.

 _I didn't kill them. I didn't want them to die. If I could have stopped it I would have,_ I told myself. _But now that it's happened, what do you feel? When it first happened, what was your first reaction? Was it horror, or was it relief?_

I couldn't control my emotions. Emotions came whether you wanted them or not. What you controlled was your actions, and I didn't kill them. I wanted to get home, but I wasn't going to kill little kids to do it.

 _What if you had to? What if it was either kill a kid or die?_

I didn't know the answer.

* * *

 **I keep forgetting to ask, but if anyone is seeking alliances, they can mention it in reviews or PMs or whatever and I'll make a list. So far:**

 **Emmeline is seeking allies**

 **Also if you leave a review and want to help me out, list what Tributes are yours. Some Tributes are so old their submitters aren't really here. If I know who those are I can be their manager and put them into alliances for people who want allies but can't find any.**


	28. Alliances and No Jayman Left Behind

**Alliances so far:**

 **Chemical Bonds 2.0- Zibby, Akari, Jayla, Tatsuya, Des, Jasmine, Tatiana, Sparkil, Shinju, Sammy**

 **And a Little Child Shall Lead- Anise, Silver, Peach, Alinta, Zinnia (?), Smudge**

 **Jayhawks- Jay, Austin, Zach, Patrick, Mati (forgot her POV LOL) Demarcus (forgot he wasn't dead LOL), Logan**

 **Fleur de Lis- Violet and Lisette**

 **Gidget and Jeanie- Gidget and Jeanie**

 **Careers- I don't know yet, but any Careers whose submitters aren't around will go here if they fit**

 **Potential TGCTSP (Name will fit if completed)- Ember, Shui, Minos**

 **Cabellos: Chrome and Jessie. Together, not seeking more allies.**

 **Everyone has an -y sound except Nash: Ally, Addie, Filly, Soya, Nash**

 **Presumed together because they're siblings: Valerie and Jason (could be looking for more- I'm not sure), Priscilla and Miall (maybe with Shui and Ember and the others)**

 **SEEKING:**

 **Dayley is seeking young allies**

 **Emmeline is seeking allies**

 **Ruby wants District One Tributes**

 **Autumn wants into Chemical Bonds 2.0**

 **Fable is seeking allies**

 **Marley is seeking allies**

 **Addy is seeking allies**

 **Nash is seeking allies**

 **And a Little Child Shall Lead is seeking any young or vulnerable Tributes (I suppose they'd probably take protective people like Peach, too)**

 **TGCTSP is seeking to ally with Miall, Priscilla, Floki, Whyte, Dath, and Gizmo**

* * *

Demarcus King- District Three male

 _My heart has joined the thousand, for my friends have stopped running._

Mati said that after the pre-Bloodbath. It sounded really deep, so I was surprised when she said it was from an old book about bunnies. I should have known it would be something like that from Mati.

Where I come from, you don't get too attached to friends. Friends come and friends die. It's part of life. You just hope you're not next. I missed them, and I hated the Capitol for killing them, but life went on until it didn't.

What this whole situation gave me was even more incentive to work harder. None of us could be sure this was the only sweep. Maybe tomorrow the Gamemakers would do it again, filtering people out based on some other reason. Anyone who didn't seem worth their time could wake up with an exploded head.

I wouldn't admit it, but training was my coping mechanism. I hated not being able to do anything about my friends. Their deaths reminded us we had no control over our lives. When I threw a spear or swung a hammer, I controlled where it went and what it did. I was my own master again, even if it was just an illusion.

I _make my fate._ I _decide what I do. I don't control everything, but I control something..._

* * *

Mati Berlin- District Ten male

"Excuse me?" I asked as I poked my head into the kitchen. "Is this the kitchen?"

An Avox appeared at the end of the hall. She shook her arms in a "no, no, no" gesture and sped up to try to stop me. I squipped into the kitchen and shut the door.

"Yes, this is the kitchen," a woman in a tall hat said. Two other people, both bent over utensils or something, ignored me. "Do you need something?"

"I was just wondering if I could watch you cook or maybe help," I said.

"You're supposed to be training," the cook said.

"I _am_ training," I said. "Training to cook."

There were more tools and gadgets in that kitchen than you could shake a stick at. I wiggled into a chef's apron and peeked over one of the tall counters.

"Was there anything in particular you wanted to make?" the chef asked, having decided to humor me.

"Something spicy. Like me," I said.

"Here. Something as spicy as you," the cook said, handing me a bottle. _Cream,_ it read.

"Shoot. You got me," I said.

"Which of these spices would you find in the wild?" I asked, looking at a row of bottles and bowls.

"All of them. They are plants," the cook said.

"Wooooow. I mean, what do they _look_ like in the wild?" I asked.

The cook took a pencil from an apron pocket and scribbled on some leftover packaging paper.

"This is a cinnamon tree. The bark is this stuff," she said, pointing at the cinnamon powder.

"We've been eating _bark?"_ I asked. "That sort of grosses _meowt."_

"That's nothing," the cook said. "Parsley is actually dirt."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know what they say. If you can't stand the peat, get out of the kitchen."

* * *

 **Mati's POV took place a few days after the carnage, so she's had time to recover.**


	29. And A Little Child Shall Lead

Anise Haefelle- District Eleven female

I wondered sometimes if my parents were proud of me.

The first time around, they had to have been. I died saving Alice, and I still didn't regret it. They would have been sad I died, but glad I made something of my life. The second time, though, were they still happy? Were they glad I stayed with the children until the end and did everything I could to stop Beth? Maybe they wished I'd ran away.

I could go down that road. This time, I could leave the little kids to Silver and Peach and strike out on my own. It would hardly make a difference. In this many people, someone like me didn't have a chance. Staying with the children might make my chances slimmer, but there was hardly any difference between one in a hundred and one in a hundred and twenty. All I would change if I went it alone was that I would lose everything that made it so I might deserve to win. I would die either way, but one way, I would die for a reason.

Some people think life is what you get for yourself, whether it's love or money or power or success. All those things go away when you die. I always thought there was something to life that lasted longer than the person living it. Life seemed like a gift to me, and that gift came with a choice. You could get what you could for yourself and leave it behind when you reached the end, Or you could make something that lasted forever, even if you didn't.

* * *

Zinnia Fraser- District Ten female

You can only be mad so long. Eventually, it's too much work to keep up. I was still mad in my heart about everything the Capitol did to me, but most of the visible stuff had fizzled out. I was just lucky I hadn't done the same thing in the sessions I did last time, or I would have gotten my head exploded. I didn't put on a big show and act like I cared, but I

There were some new girls in our alliance this time around. Daisy was a Career, which was weird, but she was weird in general. The older people in Ten would have said she was 'dumber than a sack of hair', which wasn't nice, but it was true. The Academy in Four must really suck if they let people like that in. That must have been why they didn't have as many Victors as One and Two.

Smudge was the other new girl. She came from Twelve. We all knew how poor Twelve was. I'd never had much, either, so I thought we might get along.

"Hey, Smudge. What are you up to?" I asked. She was scribbling on a piece of paper.

"Learning letters," she said. She held up a page with a single 'S'. "S is for Smudge."

"S for Smudge, S for Zinnia," Smudge said. I'd always wondered why she talked so funny, until Anise told me it was something called 'argot'. I asked what that meant and she said it was slang, so I asked why she didn't say that in the first place.

"That's _Z_ for Zinnia, but they sound pretty close," I said, and I drew a Z on her paper. "They look pretty close, too."

"Z, I, N, I, A," Smudge said. The letters were crooked and the N was backwards. "Zinnia."

"You know what, that looks perfect."

* * *

Peach Unk- District Twelve female

Undoubtedly, I was the strongest of my alliance. This might have given me confidence, had it any more meaning than being stronger than a bunch of kittens.

On the bright side, a lot of the crazier Tributes weren't back this time. Beth apparently couldn't get a leave of absence from Hell, and Mist reformed so she lost all her appeal. Shinju wasn't a vampire anymore (apparently I missed something big, since I wasn't even alive when she

I felt like I wanted to get drunk. I was tired of having responsibilities and being the best bet my alliance had for survival. I just wanted to shove poison down my throat and feel warm and stupid and empty. Every minute, my thoughts were racing through plans and possibilities and worst case scenarios. The thing about worst case scenarios was that they were supposed to be paranoid. They weren't supposed to come true. Last time in the Arena, my worst case scenario came true, but it was worse than I'd imagined.

* * *

Daisy Stem- District Four female

My new allies were so cool. Peach was so tough, and Anise and Silver were so sweet. Ferrari was a drag racer! How cool was that?

The other Careers didn't seem to think much of me. They snickered and pointed when they saw me in the halls or during meals. To tell the truth, I didn't care much for them either. When I first volunteered, we did it so no one would have to get Reaped. Things must have changed a lot since then, since they were some of the meanest cusses I'd ever seen. I thought _I_ was tough for training, but these people would eat a bowl of nails for breakfast without any milk.

There's more to life than winning. I understood that in the Games, winning really _was_ allthere was, but I didn't buy into it like they did. Everyone dies. I could win the Games and as I was going up to get my crown, a meteor could smash through the roof and squish me flat. Every day is a gift, and I didn't want to spend my life hunting people down and killing them.

The others thought I was so strong with all my training. I knew some stuff and I'd fight back if someone else started it, but I didn't want to make trouble. No one better make trouble with my allies, though. If they think they can push them around just because I don't mind their ridicule, they got another think coming.

* * *

Ferrari Benz- District Six female

Of my allies, I was probably the least damaged by our yo-yo existence. The way I saw it, this made life like a video game. I didn't get to play those much, but once in a while some rich kid came by to "slum it" with the drag racers and had some handheld doohickey he let us play with while he almost got himself killed. On my turns, I quickly learned the best part was doing idiotic things and getting my character killed. It didn't matter, since she bounced right back with nothing more than some lost points. Thanks to resurrection, that was my whole life now. I could jump of a cliff and turn myself into soup, and then I cam back like nothing really happened!

Who's to say life isn't all a video game, anyway? How would we even know? It's like when you ask your friend what red looks like and wonder if he's seeing the same red, or if what he's calling red you would call blue, and how would anyone know? The whole world could be a badly-rendered simulation and we would have nothing to compare it to if we'd never been outside it. So let loose and live it up, because you never know when it's game over.

That might have been pointless philosophy, but there was one thing I _did_ know. The Capitol controlled everything in Panem. Real world or not, I didn't have any more control than a video game character. So I didn't care what happened in the Arena. I'd live it up as long as I could, and if game over came, I'd go out with a bang.

* * *

Smudge Kells- District Twelve female

People here ate _all the time._ You could go into the cafeteria whenever you wanted, and it always had food. If I didn't remember the Capitol from the first time, I would have thought I was in Heaven.

The first day I was back at the Capitol, Silver came to me and asked if I wanted to be in her alliance. Of _course_ I wanted to be in her alliance. It wasn't good to try to survive alone. Kids who tried that ended up as frozen bodies under a pile of garbage. I'd seen it happen, and I'd touched the cold, hard bodies. Some of them had been kids I knew before the weather turned cold. It was hard to live through the winter, but it was easier if you had people to huddle with.

Sometimes it was hard to understand my allies. They all talked funny in different ways. Zinnia was the hardest. All her words were slow and drawn-out. When she first heard my last name, she said it was 'Kehyells'. I said it was 'Kells' and she said that's what she said! She always sounded like she had honey in her mouth. It was kind of pretty, but it could be hard to understand.

I didn't like all the people in the building. You couldn't trust large groups of people. Anytime someone bumped into you, you had to back up and look tough, in case they were trying to start a fight or steal your food. With all these people, I couldn't even run. Whenever I came into a room, I checked where the other doors were, in case someone came after me. I didn't have to worry about that with my allies, though. Nobody would mess with Daisy and Peach.

* * *

Alinta Fintan- District Twelve female

It was weird how I tended to last a long time. For all my attitude, I was just a little girl. Maybe I could fight and hit with the best of them, but I was still so much _littler_ than the best of them. But it had served me well so far, and one of these times I might even win.

"I have something important to talk about," Silver said as we gathered in the Eight lounge. She'd gathered us up with that somber, serious look she got when she was about to go full mother bear.

"Since we have some new members, I think we should exchange information again," she said. "Also, in case anyone forgot or something. Just in case the worst happens, we should know what to do."

"I mean, like, at least all but one of us are definitely going to die," Peach said.

"Very delicately put," Anise said.

" _Anyway,_ whoever wins has a duty to take care of the others. Now, about our new members. Daisy, do you have any next of kin we should contact?"

Daisy held her chin in thought. "Nope, pretty sure they're all dead by now."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. How about you, Smudge?"

"Kin?" Smudge asked.

"Who do you have in your family?" Silver asked.

"No one," Smudge said.

"That makes that easier," Peach cracked. The rest of us confirmed our families.

It was supposed to make up feel better, but it just made me madder. I didn't even know if my parents still thought about me. Or maybe that's all they ever did, which was even worse. I didn't want cures and coping mechanisms. I wanted there to be no Games.

* * *

 **Next up: Lisette/Violet and Jeanie/Gidget!**


	30. Fleur de Lis and I Dream of Gidget

Jeanie Clay- District Nine female

Good people didn't win the Games. I wasn't going to make a goody two-shoes plan to ally with someone weak and stay with them until the end. I didn't have the strength. All I wanted to do was get to the end and hope I could still live with myself.

My plan was simple. I'd stay out of the way during the start of the Games. I'd lay low and not make any trouble until the herd was thinner. Then I'd find someone stronger than me but not strong enough to ignore me, and we'd hitch up. I'd be a loyal ally until the final five, and then... I'd guarantee myself a spot in the final four.

Since I didn't plan to fight fair, I didn't need any more weapons training. It would be one surprise attack- either I'd pull it off or I wouldn't. That left plants for my training time. I needed to be able to feed myself until I found an ally.

Gidget was at the other end of the table as I practiced. I'd seen her around, of course. She was usually smiling, and she liked to talk with the others. Nobody wanted to ally with her, of course. No one wanted to be attached to that much tragedy, and I certainly didn't want the entire Capitol to hate me for killing her. I kept to my plants and she left me alone after a few aborted efforts at conversation.

"And here we see some of the losers."

That didn't sound like any of the Tributes. I looked up in curiosity and saw Jerky McJerkface pointing us out to two of his mentees: Ember and Daren. Daren immediately made a face and left, while Ember stayed.

"You miss your little girl?" Jerky taunted Gidget. For once she didn't say anything. "When this is over, maybe I'll read her a bedtime story for you."

I shot up out of my chair without thinking, my fists at my sides and my cheeks burning. "You feel like a man now?!" I spat. "You're nothing but a dog!"

Jerky looked to Ember for defense. "You gonna let her say that to me?" he asked. She shot him a dirty look and walked away. I took Gidget's hand while he was distracted and we fled.

I didn't know why I did it. It went against all my plans. I guess when I looked at Jerky, I saw everything I could become. Some things were worse than death.

* * *

Gidget Ford- District Three female

"Thanks," I said as Jeanie and I fled down the hall. ""Let's go to the Three lounge. He won't want to go there. Acee can be scary."

"What was all that? I didn't even think you liked me," I said when we'd settled on the couches.

"I wanted to not care this time," Jeanie said. "I guess I couldn't do it. It must be easy for you. You're always so happy."

"Just because I'm a mom doesn't mean I'm better or more mature than anyone," I said. "Lots of us are going to do things we don't like."

"How are you always so happy still?" Jeanie asked.

"Being a mom did teach me that some things are worth dying for. I'm not the most important thing in my life anymore. And life is as happy as you make it," I said.

"It's a far, far better thing I do..." Jeanie muttered, mostly to herself.

"What?" I asked.

"It's from a book. From someone I always wanted to be like," she said. She looked up suddenly. "Are you looking for allies?"

"Definitely!" I said. "I'll go insane without someone to talk to."

Jeanie and I had a lot to talk about. It was nice to just sit in the lounge, order in some junk food, and talk about happy things. I told her about all my friends back home, and she told me about all her favorite books.

"I never had the patience to read," I said. "I should have read more."

"I bet you read lots of picture books," Jeanie said.

"I always liked those. I liked all the pretty pictures and how compact the stories were."

I could have talked forever. We only stopped so Jeanie could go to bed. I should have gone to bed too, but I was used to going without sleep.

* * *

Violet Robbins- District Seven female

"So what are you good at?" I asked Lisette. It was only natural we'd ended up together. We were both small, vulnerable, and long shots.

"I do camouflage," she said.

"That's perfect! I can make shelter. You can camouflage them," I said.

"Let's go through one together," Lisette said.

"You lasted a long time last time," I said as we worked. I was putting leaves over a frame and Lisette was moving them around to break up the lines and make them look natural.

"You made it past the Bloodbath too," she said. "I guess people like us get overlooked."

"Looks pretty good," I said when we were finished. If people didn't know what they were looking for, they would think our shelter was a pile of leaves.

"Hey, I heard you eat bugs," Lisette said.

"Sometimes," I said. "Why, you wanna try some?"

"It's probably a good idea," Lisette said. We moved to the bug table.

"You can eat anything with six legs or fewer," I said. "Most of the ones with more legs you can also eat, but some caterpillars are poisonous."

"What about spiders?" Lisette asked.

"You can eat them, but I'd have to be pretty hungry," I said.

"I think I'd rather eat dirt," Lisette agreed. She picked a random grub out of the green 'safe' bowls. "Here goes nothing." She made a face, but swallowed. "Well, it's better than dirt."

* * *

Lisette Crowley- District Three female

I hoped the Arena would have flowers. Last time was pretty, so I shouldn't have hoped for two in a row, but I did. I didn't want to die somewhere ugly.

Violet was a great ally. She didn't care that I wasn't smart like most people from Three. She didn't even want to ally with me because she thought I was smart. She liked me because I was a long shot like her.

"What should we do if someone attacks us?" I asked.

"Let's run," she said.

"That's a good idea," I said, and I waited a moment to gather courage. "What if we can't run?"

"I guess we'll have to fight," she said.

"I had an idea about that," I started. I hoped she didn't think it was as stupid as I was afraid she would. "Let's promise we'll fight together."

"That's probably the only way we'll win," Violet said.

"I mean, like, let's promise that if one of us gets attacked, the other one will fight, too. Then we're twice as strong," I said.

"I guess if either of us ends up alone we'll die anyway," Violet considered.

"No matter what, even if the other one could get away, we have to fight together. Then we have a chance," I said.

"You think we'll both go through with it?" Violet asked.

"I don't know. Neither of us will until the moment. But if we promise now, we've done all we can," I said.

"All right." Violet put out her hand. "I promise."

"I promise," I said. And I meant it. I didn't know what would happen when the time came, but I meant it with all my heart.

* * *

 **Getting closer! That's like, half the Tributes?**


	31. Everyone but Nash has an -y Sound

**I'm trying to assemble the Career pack so let me know if you want in! So far I think Onyx can go in since he got reset to an assassin, and Dylan Brooke's submitter said it didn't really matter. So that's the pack so far.**

* * *

Ally Tesla- District Five female

Never in a million years did I think I would be friends with Shinju. Probably never in history had a girl become friends with the vampire who killed her. But there's a first time for everything. We were in different alliances now, but I knew that if we ever crossed paths, we wouldn't have to be afraid. I'd told my allies she said she was sorry, so none of us were gunning for her. Most likely we'd never even see each other. Weirdly, I wished her the best.

We might as well have called ourselves 'the long shots'. Soya and I died in the Bloodbath, and Nash didn't last much longer. Addie probably had the best chance, even though Filly lasted the longest. And me... I'd probably do better than last time.

 _I wonder how Abby's doing._ I hadn't thought much of my sister, and I felt guilty as soon as I did. She always took things so hard. It would be hard for anyone to lose a sister, but the way I died would have made it even worse. Until that moment, I hadn't confronted a very real possibility. I might not have a sister anymore.

Abby wasn't like most people. She didn't have that inner light that kept you going when things were hard. Somewhere along the way, she used hers up. She was always tired, no matter how much she slept. She never did anything, and she never really seemed happy. I had to be happy for the both of us. When I was dead, she didn't have that.

 _If she's dead, she doesn't have to see me die again._ That couldn't be the happiest outcome. I wouldn't let it be. She _was_ alive, and she didn't have to see me die again because I wasn't going to.

* * *

Addie Child- District Six female

I did some crazy things in my life, but I still didn't relish the idea of going into an Arena with a hundred other Tributes.

"Whoever wins is going to be a legend," Nash said.

"Yeah, even more than normal," I said.

"So far it's been strong people. That's not so great for us," Soya said.

"Ava was pretty skinny. Still strong, but really skinny," Ally said.

My mom always said it wasn't the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Maybe so far the sizes of the dogs had always matched the size of the fight, but it didn't always have to be.

 _The Bloodbath is going to be a madhouse._ It was terrifying to imagine. A hundred children running in all directions like a macabre game of sharks and minnows. Blood would spray the air like water from a hose, and you wouldn't know which ones were dead until the faces lit up the sky. It was going to be chaos. People talk about chaos, but they mean something small, like a car crash. Chaos was something cataclysmic and world-changing. It was a rush of energy and thrill even I didn't want to invoke.

We weren't all going to make it. There was no way every member of our alliance would survive the Bloodbath. At least one of us was already a ghost. I looked from face to face and wondered which one wouldn't make that run. Or maybe it was me, or maybe it was all of us. It definitely _would_ be at least all but one of us. I didn't want to dwell on it, and some small part of me was still looking forward to the challenge. I hoped that wasn't what got me killed.

* * *

Filly Kozlov- District Ten male

"You don't have to clean things! You don't have to worry about that!" Orchard said when she found me compulsively cleaning the lounge again.

"I know," I said, and I did know. I was entirely aware I wasn't being rational. That was the idea with an addiction. I knew I didn't have to clean a room that wasn't mine. I knew I was wasting time that could be spent resting and preparing. It wasn't really a waste, though. The stress I expended trying to resist the urges outweighed the energy expended to clean, or make something, or do anything as long as it was productive.

Lots of children bite their nails. No matter how much their parents plead, they can't just stop. It's so stupid. It does nothing productive, and if you do it enough, your fingers bleed and get infected. But you still do it, because you have to. You hate disappointing your parents and you hate how weak you are, but you still do it. You can't control your own brain, and it's one of the worst feelings in the world.

When Orchard shooed me out of the room, I went right to the training room and kept working. One thing or another, I had to stay productive. The only time I could take a break was when I was talking to my allies. Then I could convince myself I was being useful by learning about them.

It wasn't hard to see why it was so hard to break old patterns. I had no control in the Arena, and nothing was sure. All I could be sure of was my old habits. The only thing I had to depend on was my own crutch.

* * *

Soya Tores- District Eleven female

Every night there were nightmares. Every night I was back on that ship. I ran faster and faster, but Jessie was always there. She was always there, and she always raised her bloody sword and cut me open. When I woke up, the nightmare was still there, because Jessie was still there.

There was no reason to be especially afraid of Jessie. She wasn't looking for me. She wouldn't even notice me unless we happened to cross paths. She was no more danger than any other Career. She wasn't allying with the pack, so at the Bloodbath, she would only be interested in getting herself out safely. All of that was true, but none of it stopped the nightmares.

I never told any of the others. I already looked weak enough. I was surprised Filly even allied with me again. I didn't want them to know how scared I was, even if we were all scared. I didn't want to be a baby. I wanted to be a useful ally.

 _It's not all hopeless,_ I told myself. Small Tributes had won before. This time, there was going to be a lot of luck involved. So much depended on where you stood during the countdown. SO much depended on who ran to the same part of the Arena as you, and on what the Arena was. Whoever was going to win, none of us could predict it. It could even be me.

* * *

Nash Forger- District Twelve male

Cain was my best friend. He shoved me away like he never even knew me, and then he was dead. I never got to ask him why he did it. I didn't even get to say goodbye.

As soon as Filly offered to let me into his alliance, I jumped on it. I wanted to be with anyone who would take me. I didn't want to be alone and lonely anymore.

We were on a rotating schedule in our alliance. Addie was the only one training with weapons, since she was the only one strong enough for it to be worthwhile. The rest of us cycled through plants, shelters, fishing ropes, and things like that. That way we could double-check each other if we found a plant in the Arena, and when some of us died, the others could pick up.

I made sure I was pulling my weight, but after I trained for a few hours, I took a break to goof off. We all knew our odds were pretty much set, so it wouldn't hurt anything. Life was short, whether or not we won, and I wanted to do some things while I could.

"Nubu, can we do something cool?" I asked.

"Did you have anything in mind?" he asked.

"Can we go to the top of the building and throw a paper airplane off?" I asked.

"I don't think you really needed to ask me," Nubu said.

"I wanted you to be there," I said. We folded a paper airplane and set off.

"Hold on," I said when we reached the roof. I took out a pen and wrote my name on the airplane. I waited until a breeze kicked up and threw it. It sailed far out into the air, and I watched it until I couldn't see it anymore.

"That was it?" Nubu asked.

"Now I'm out there forever," I said. "And maybe some kid will find it and know it was from me. Does that make sense?"

"You know what? It does."

* * *

 **Fanfiction's doing the thing where it doesn't paste italics again. I tried to catch them all but if something looks weird, that's why.**


	32. Siblings and Daria

**I wanted to do Priscilla after Miall and Ember have known each other for a while, so I subbed in Daria to get another POV.**

* * *

Miall Piscot- District One male

"That girl keeps looking at you," Priscilla said, squinting at Ember Steiner from District Two.

"What, Crag's kid? I probably shouldn't mess with that," I said. She was pretty and all, but I didn't want Crag on my trail.

"It might not be up to you anymore," Priscilla teased. Sure enough, Ember was still peeking at me. Whenever I looked, she pretended she was looking at something else.

"Do you know anything about Ember Steiner?" I asked Blake later that night.

"That girl? All I know is that she has the worst taste in men," Blake said. "She has a crush on that awful Jerky McJerkface."

"I think she might be over him," I said.

"Good riddance," Blake sniffed.

I probably should have said something, but Ember beat me to it. She came up to me the next day when Priscilla and I were training.

"I wish we didn't have to fight soon. You're kind of cute," she said.

 _Wow._ I wished I was that brave when I talked to girls I liked. That was way scarier than training in the Academy.

"Thanks. You're okay too," I said. It wasn't the most charming response, but I didn't have much time to think.

"You wanna hang out sometime after training?" Ember asked.

"Uh... okay," I said. Priscilla made a teasing "ooooooooh" noise behind my ear and I swatted at her. I just said I would hang out. We weren't a couple. We barely knew each other and we were about to try to kill each other. It wasn't a fairytale romance, because this wasn't a fairytale.

* * *

Jason Lenn- District One male

One of us was going to have to watch the other die, unless we both died at the same time. That might be the easiest way. Neither of us wanted to talk about it, but Valerie was stronger than me. I broke first.

"You know, you have to live your own life," I said while we were relaxing on a couch in the lounge.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You can't worry about me all the time. I'm here because of my own decision, and it's not your fault. You did everything you could to stop me, and you don't have to take care of me," I said.

Valerie sat up on the couch. "Of course I do. You're my little brother."

"Stop it, Valerie! You can't save me, all right?!" Valerie jumped at my sudden shout. It sounded like I was angry, but it was all fear. "You did your part. Stop worrying about me!"

"Do.. you don't want to ally with me?" Valerie asked.

"No, of course I want to ally with you. I just don't want you to put me first anymore. Whether I live or die, that's my fault. You already gave your life once. Don't throw it away again," I said.

"I didn't throw it away. It was worth it," Valerie said.

" _You're_ worth it, too," I said. "I'm not the only one who's worth saving."

"What am I going to do if I have to live without you?" Valerie asked quietly.

"That's the only thing I would know better than you," I said. "It's hard, but you'll go on. Life always goes on. Nobody has it easy. That's just life."

* * *

Valerie Lenn- District One female

When did my little brother become a man? He used to be so reckless and carefree. He was acting like an old man now, saying things no one his age should know. Why couldn't he still be my little brother?

 _I'm not the only one worth saving_. Jason wanted me to live my own life and take care of myself. I wasn't sure I could do that. It was easier to die a hero than live for yourself and risk dying for nothing. If Jason died in an accident or while I was away, I might be able to go on, but if I left him to die, I wouldn't want to live anymore.

There had to be a way to have it both ways. Two people couldn't win the Games, but we could both still win. We just had to do it in different years. If the worst happened and I was still able to win, next time around, I could be Jason's mentor. I'd seen it happen before with Crag. If your mentee was related to you, it didn't matter if they were the wrong sex. The Gamemakers knew you wouldn't be able to stay unbiased. I could be his mentor and pour every cent of my prize money into getting him whatever he needed to win. We'd have other sponsors, too, since everyone would want to reunite the two Career siblings. Even with my past, they'd still want to help Jason. He was the ideal Career.

I didn't want that to happen, but I had to be ready for anything. Jason was right that I couldn't protect him. I couldn't be there every minute and I couldn't be ready for everything. I couldn't save myself the first time around, and I couldn't control how the Games played out. Whatever happened, I had to stay strong and make the most of it. In the Academy, they taught us triage. It wasn't a big part of training, but we learned a little. We learned that when someone was badly enough wounded, we should leave them and try to cut our losses. Jason wasn't a loss I could cut, but if he did die, I had to keep moving on. I had to remember I was more than a sister. I was my own person, and it was okay to want to stay alive.

* * *

Daria Junius- Capitol-born, District Eleven female

 _Attila was racing after us, so fast we couldn't get away. He brought his huge blade down on me. It cut me open but didn't kill me. I saw bits of intestine and flesh dangling from the blade as Attila pulled it out and ran. Warm, wet blood soaked me and stuck my clothes to the floor as Syca bent over me. I could see he wanted to stay more than anything in the world, but he had to leave. It was too late for me and Desiree. He was the only one left now._

When I woke, I was wet all over. My hands flew to my waist to feel for the gaping wound, but the cold wetness was just sweat. My breath hitched and heaved as I curled under the blankets and buried my face in the mattress.

Syca was gone. Desiree was gone. My best friend and the girl I wanted to spend my life with were both gone. All three of us died, and I was the only one who got picked to come back. Why would they do that? Why would they pick a half but not the whole? They didn't pick just Jason and not Valerie, or just Floki and not Whyte. They set up an entire Games trying to get me to fall in love, and when I did, they ripped me away from her.

I didn't even know how much was real and how much was the drugs they gave us. I'd never have a chance to know now. The Gamemakers started this story, but they didn't let me hear the end. They left me as a scared, shivering husk, without even the one person who could have made it better. All I had was a cold, empty bed and the knowledge that it was about to happen again.


	33. Careers

**The Career Pack is DEFINITELY still open! Anyone interested should come on in! If I think there are more unmanaged Careers I'll add them.**

* * *

Karyssa Evans- District One female

There was a surprising lack of Careers in the Career pack. This was made all the more obvious by the fact that there were roughly 38 Careers, give or take a few. Seemed like most of them either paired up as siblings or couldn't take the heat.

Being in the pack was one of the best parts of the Games. You got to be with like-minded people who, just like you, actually earned a place here and didn't just fall into it. We were the toughest bunch in Panem. It was weird to think someone could go through all that training and not have any pride in their status. If they didn't want to join the pack, that was their choice. I, for one, was happy to be part of it.

Back I went to the hand-to-hand station, and back it went to being impossible. Some things just aren't surmountable. We all have our weaknesses, and mine was hand-to-hand combat. Everyone had weaknesses, and the best thing to do was identify your own and compensate for them. I would just make sure no one got close enough to worry about manual combat. If someone was far away, I'd hit them with my spear. If they got past that, I'd hit them with my throwing stars. If they got close... they wouldn't get close.

It was going to be a little embarrassing if I won. Even though I would have won, I would still have to put up with hecklers asking why I died the first time. That's life, though. If you worried about everyone who didn't like you, you'd never stop worrying.

* * *

Dylan Brooke- District Four male

Karyssa wasn't good at close-range fighting. Part of being a pack was watching out for each other. I was already good at wrestling, so I made sure to practice a little more than normal. We could dominate the Arena if we worked together for a while. We all knew things would fall apart, but we could cut the numbers in half, or better, if we kept our act together for a long time.

For most people, dying in the Games was the worst thing that could happen. I actually thought it was kind of liberating. All the negative people in my life were gone. All the people that talked trash about me and sniped at me from the background were out of my life forever. I was my own man. I could, and would, do anything I wanted and be anything I wanted to be. Here in the Capitol, I wasn't even unusual. I pretty much matched them in terms of aesthetic. I was probably a favorite.

I only wished I had more time to enjoy it. As much as I wanted to goof off and enjoy my freedom, I had to stay focused. None of this mattered if I didn't win. I had to keep my head down and focus on the nitty-gritties of projectiles, blades, and survival. Survival wasn't glamorous, but if you wanted to be glamorous, you had to be alive.

First you worked, then you played. And as far as work went, being a Career wasn't that bad. For a few weeks of work, you got an entire lifetime of pay. People died in workplace accidents all the time. People fell off of fishing boats in squalls and got swallowed up. Everyone died eventually. For a lot more risk, you could get a lot more reward. One crazy adventure could net you everything.

* * *

Arielle Ermin- District four female

The first time, I lost to an eventual Victor. The second time, I lost to a Career. This time, I wasn't going to lose to anyone.

My score put a target on my back. I had one of the highest averages. There were a lot of Careers here, and any two of them could easily take me down. I did well, but I wasn't fooling myself that I could fight two people at once. My only chance to get through this was to ally, and to ally with someone strong. The Career pack was the way to go.

My allies seemed like a good bunch. Cierra wasn't my ally last time around, but I remembered how loyal and friendly she was. Dylan was cool, Karyssa was cool, Gloria was most concerned that we didn't think she was dead weight, and Amphilia was a dark horse. Onyx was a weirdo, but the rest of us knew when the time came, we would work together and take him out. Let him kill the ones we didn't want to kill, and then we could pretend we were the good guys for killing him.

It was terribly frustrating to always get so close. Each time I made it so far, and every time I came back, the race was longer. It was slipping away from me. I wouldn't get limitless chances. One of these days, they would get bored of watching me lose. Kazuo already made it. Ava already made it. I didn't have many more lives.

* * *

Cierra Daline- District Two female

No one even remembered that I was a disappointment. All they knew was what they saw now, and I'd been doing a good job.

No more pussyfooting around. I used my sword with confidence and even branched out into some other skills I'd always been afraid to try. I hadn't wanted to try the pool for fear I'd look stupid, but I finally took the plunge. I was no fish, but by the end, I at least wouldn't drown.

The closer the Games got, the more excited I was. I was actually totally revved up for this. I felt like I could do anything. I could fight and win and take it all home. It was still dangerous, and I definitely couldn't do anything stupid, but this was something I could do. I was in a strong alliance, and I wasn't the load. When the others looked at me, they saw a strong ally. I was a frontrunner, in-alliance and out.

More than that, I had friends. Gloria thought I was cool, and I thought Dylan was cool. We ate together. We talked strategy together. We hung out together when we weren't training. When I walked the halls, I was one of the cool people, not one of the ones who watched the cool people and thought about what they were saying behind my back.

It wasn't going to last forever. When the Games started, the little half-formed friendships would dissolve and we'd all be looking out for ourselves. All my confidence wouldn't mean anything- only my performance. This high would evaporate as quickly as it came. I knew all that was true, and I savored every minute it lasted.

* * *

Gloria Martez- District One female

I didn't need to overcompensate. I just needed to compensate.

No matter what the others said, I knew I was the youngest of the alliance. I needed to show them I wasn't the weakest. Once they saw that, I could relax. After a few days throwing my throwing stars and throwing my weight around, my status was solid. Then I was free to be myself.

It was really funny how I was one of the fiercer members of the pack. It could have been chalked up to a Napoleon complex, but that was just my personality. I grew up with the Games. They were in my family. Killing was as normal as eating breakfast. People saw me as someone easy to kill, and my job was to make sure they died before they corrected themselves.

No one spoke of it, but I was something of a secret weapon. The Tributes who didn't catch my first Games didn't know what kind of girl I was. I looked small, and in public, I played up the persona that I was soooo excited to be part of the pack and I soooo wanted to prove myself. Better to look like an overeager overachiever than have everyone know I was in it to win. When the Bloodbath came, I would be the one no one knew to run away from.

Creddi wanted to volunteer, too. My little sister thought the world of me. I wondered if she'd changed her mind, or if she still wanted to go through with it. If I won, maybe that would be enough for her. Siblings always said they wanted their little brothers and sisters to follow them into the Arena, but no one really meant it. The Games were great, but not for them. They were great for someone else. Maybe it was greedy to want the Victory only for yourself. Everyone has flaws.

* * *

Amphilia Fortuna- District Four female

Of the Career pack, I appeared the weakest. I was the one that died the fastest, with the fewest kills. I was the least ferocious one, the one that followed Mags' pragmatic strategy instead of Crag's flashy one. I just wanted to get out alive. I didn't care either way about killing people.

It was dangerous to be the weakest Career. Then again, it was sometimes the safest place to be. It was part of the contrary and paradoxical nature of the Career pack that it had as many facets of a diamond. During a breakup, it seemed obvious to take out the weakest member first. However, that wasn't always the case. Sometimes one of the Careers who would have gone after the weakest saw a chance and took it, allying with the weakling and using her as a boost to kill a bigger threat. Sometimes the bigger threat saw that coming and allied with the weakling first, knowing she could dispose of her later. It was a delicate, tenuous game of politics and human relations, and it was one of the least predictable parts of the Games.

This was further complicated by the fact that I may have seemed like the weakest Career, but I wasn't. Physically, it was Gloria. Socially, it was Onyx. In terms of selfishness and craven nature, it was Cierra. All these things would play a part in the sub-alliances. There were a million ways any Career altercation could go, and none of us fit neat roles this time.

The Career pack was the top alliance. It always was. It was as hard and sharp as a diamond. I could have asked a One Tribute to ask what happened when you split a diamond. It took an expert, because it could break a million ways. Very few people could predict it.

* * *

 **Onyx doesn't have a POV since, like Venus, he no longer has an internal monologue. Venus didn't come back because, having been killed by a virgin, she is now superdead. Since (if you were following All-Stars The Killer Elite) she has become a reference to The Shape from Halloween, I have transferred that to Onyx. Most of these clones still have souls, but Onyx didn't come back quite right... Sometimes I get a little weird.**


	34. Some Careers

**Here's Phoenix's stuff, finally!**

* * *

PHOENIX HEMLOCK

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7

RESILIENCE: 8

INTELLIGENCE: 8

PAST PERFORMANCE: 7

DRIVE TO WIN: 8

SKILLS PERFORMED: 7

FEROCITY: 7

POPULARITY: 6

RESOURCEFULNESS: 7  
AVERAGE: 7.2222

* * *

 _Phoenix, do you think it's deep or something you're named after a phoenix?- Vivica Fox_

"Maybe, but there are a lot of people here who weren't named after phoenixes."

* * *

Viola Pierre- District Two female

Out of the Careers, I was an odd duck. I wasn't the only one- there was Charming, and Onyx, and Patrick. All the same, there was something odd about me. I was just about the only non-volunteer. I never wanted this, even after I won the slot. I got Reaped. The others didn't notice how reluctant I was, or someone would have volunteered. I should have been louder.

Maybe I had all the training, but I had none of the heart. I trained because my father wanted me to. I never expected to get the slot. It must have been a terrible year for volunteers. I would never be a killer like the others. I wasn't even a reluctant killer like some of them. I just plain wasn't a killer. The Career pack was out of the question, and I just hoped they didn't target me.

I didn't want to kill, but that didn't mean I didn't want to live. I was trained in the mace and the whip, and I kept practicing while we waited for the Games to begin. I didn't have to worry about the pack seeing me as a threat, but I did want any of the individuals to think I was too much trouble to go after. They could afford to leave me alone until the alliances started to break up.

It didn't help that Pray hated my guts. She didn't understand the concept of not loving to kill people. To her, I was the worst thing anyone in Two could be: a coward.

"But you got Reaped too," I protested.

"Yeah, but I was going to volunteer," she said. "And I still fought."

I wished I'd been assigned to Ava. I more or less was, since Pray and the other Two Victors ignored me. Ava was the only one who would work with me. She didn't like killing kids either.

"Can I get through without killing anyone?" I asked her.

"Five Victors have so far: Seeder, Toby, Lena, Cornflower, and Hades," she said. "So it doesn't happen much, but it's possible. You're going into this with a handicap."

 _Better than going into it with no heart..._

* * *

Ava Vave- District One female

I shouldn't have to be here a second time. What a waste of time I could have spent being rich back in the Victor's Village. I had to be back here with the losers training all over again.

There was a Career pack forming, but I didn't think I wanted to join. I could do this myself, and I didn't need anyone slowing me down. I trained for this. I was meant for this.

Arrow after arrow thudded into the target, right where I wanted them. Sometimes I aimed at the outer layers, just for a change. I didn't need to train anymore. Enough of that.

After I made sure I was still ready, I prowled the Games building. Everywhere I went, people pointed me out and gathered around me. All Tributes had fans, but mine were definitely of a higher quality. I was from District One, after all. We were the best District. Everyone knew it. We made the finer things in life, and the people who made them were equally fine. We were better just by nature. Anyone with eyes could see that. We were the prettiest, fiercest, finest people of Panem, even better than the Capitolites. They might have lived in the Capitol, but we could have if we wanted to. We wanted to stay a District so we could win the Games.

"Of course, of course," I said to a little girl who wanted my autograph. I swirled my name across the page in pretty cursive. A line formed, and I obliged all my adoring fans. It would mean so much to them, and of course I wanted their money.

 _This must be what it's like to be Rhoda._ Someone like Rhoda was the perfect example of a One citizen. She was glamorous, beautiful, deadly, and always successful. That was going to be me.

* * *

Eridan Medea- District Two male

 _Thorn Debrasker._

The girl was lucky she was still dead. However she died, it wouldn't be as bad as the way I would have killed her. She was safe from me. Natalie wasn't, though. Their reckoning would come. I didn't know how someone could live with herself after what she did. I was supposed to go home to Feferi. She split us up for her own selfish reasons. But villains never win.

Of course the Games building would have a jewelry shop. Tributes who didn't have tokens could pick something up, or Capitolites could buy something for their Tribute of choice. The selection of engagement rings was appropriately thin, but I could find something that worked.

Feferi was a very delicate, lovely woman. She needed a ring just as beautiful as she was. No simple gold band with a tiny diamond stud for her. She needed something rarer, something more unique. A crystal band studded all over with opals caught my eye.

"Looking for someone special, are we?" the storekeeper asked.

"The most special woman in the world," I said.

"Well, I wish you the best. You're going into the Arena, right?" the storekeeper asked.

"Yes, but it will be all right. I have the best reason to win," I said.

"It sounds like it," the storekeeper said.

"Can you save this back for me? I'll come get it after I win," I said.

"Under the circumstances, I think I can do that. Good luck, boy," the storekeeper said.

Back in my room, I made a list. I had a few things to do before I could marry Feferi.

 _Train for the Games_

 _Kill Natalie_

 _Win_

 _Buy engagement ring_

 _Plan romantic proposal_

 _Propose_

 _Marry Feferi_

 _Happily ever after_

* * *

Chrome Cabello- District Two female

I didn't think I had it in me anymore. My chance came in that mansion with Vera. I came so close, but I choked on the home stretch. You didn't get two chances like that. My hopes weren't high for this trip into the Arena, but hope didn't matter. There were winners and there were losers. Emotions had nothing to do with it.

Jessie wasn't a killer. She could do it if she had to, but it wasn't her heart. I got all our father's cruelty. She only got his passion. Anyone who wanted to fight her still had another think coming. She wouldn't go down easy, just like she didn't last time. And everyone knew we were a package deal. Nobody wanted to take us both on.

Neither of us wanted to be Victors. We always thought our father was a lazy sack of trash for forcing us to do the killing while he sat at home, but he was a killer, too. We killed people we didn't know. He killed his own daughters. What kind of messed up world is it where a girl loves her father enough to die for him, and he accepts the offer?

All of this went through my head as we were playing cards after a day of training. After laying down a card, Jessie set her hand flat on the table. Without thinking, I put mine on top. She yanked hers out and put it back on top. I did the same, faster, and we took turns escalating the speed until we were flapping our hands at our chests pretending we were going so fast we couldn't see them.

I hadn't smiled so freely since the day Dad told me he only had me so I could win. I had no idea where the stupid ritual had started, but that hand-slapping thing was something we'd been doing for years. It came back as naturally as the smile.

* * *

Jessie Cabello- District Two female

Even though we were here under less than ideal circumstances, it was great being in the Capitol again. I was glad Fable was here, even though Chrome said we shouldn't ally. She wasn't jealous or anything- she just didn't want us to end up having to kill my friend. Fable was starting her own alliance, and it was nice to know there would be someone sympathetic in the Arena.

"I have the coolest thing to show you!" I told Chrome, who was pulling on her clothes to train.

"We should... oh whatever, we're trained," she said. "What is it?"

"Come on!"

I pulled her into the restaurant, still holding her hand, and pulled her toward a big table. "Look at this!"

"Eww, it's raw meat," she said.

"Yeah! You pick out what you want and they cook it on that giant stone!" I said, pointing to the huge round rock. The man standing by it waved at me.

"It's still sort of gross," Chrome said.

I picked out a bunch of meat and vegetables while Chrome uneasily picked up some tongs. When the cook cracked the raw egg onto the pile, I watched Chrome so I could see her see it for the first time as it hissed and turned white just from the heat of the meat.

"Isn't it great?" I asked as I tried to pick up a shrimp with chopsticks.

"It tastes better than it looks," Chrome said.

After that, training was out the window. We visited the petting zoo, tried out the laser tag course, and jumped off the top of the building so the force field would throw us back.

That night, we threw popcorn at the wall as we heckled the Capitol soap opera we'd turned on. It was the best day ever.

* * *

 **I really do that slap thing with my sister.**


	35. We're Number One

**Ava's in the alliance but she already had a POV.**

* * *

Ruby Lalonde- District One female

Usually, Careers wanted another Career to win if they couldn't. This time, there were enough Tributes that I could afford to be more picky. If it couldn't be me, I wanted it to be District One. We hadn't been doing as well as we could lately. We were doing all right, but more was better. Mostly it was just old-fashioned patriotism. I loved my District, and anyone that came from there had an instant connection to me. Everyone but Charming.

Ava wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but she was an asset. Fable joined in so she wouldn't be targeted by the other Career pack, Jayden joined just because she was a Career, and Madison joined for whatever reasons. Just like that, we were a dominant force.

"All right, everyone, I think we should plan the Bloodbath," I said as we gathered in the One lounge.

"Obviously the biggest worry is the other pack," Jayden said.

"Exactly," I said. "And I think I have an idea. This sounds weird, but I don't think we should go after the non-Careers during the Bloodbath."

It must have sounded less weird than I thought, since no one reacted. They probably knew more was coming, and it was.

"There are five of us and five in the other pack," I said. "We need to gain dominance right away and keep it. Instead of killing Tributes, let's all clump together and go after a single member from the other pack."

"That sounds good," Fable said. "But who should we target?"

"Onyx is the most dangerous," Fable said.

"Cierra is the weakest," Madison said.

"Which one would be the biggest loss?" I asked everyone.

"Arielle," Jayden said. The others indicated their agreement.

"Arielle then," I said. "If she's close to the others, we should go after whoever's on their own. Otherwise, we're gunning for Arielle."

* * *

Madison English- District One female

"Hold on," I said. I hadn't wanted to sat much, since I wanted to be overlooked, but there was something very important I had to address. "They're planning the same thing with us."

"Oh shoot, you're right," Fable gasped. "Who do you think they're targeting?"

"I don't think it's me," Ruby said. "No one got to saw how strong I am or not, since my Games were weird."

"It's me," Ava said confidently.

"Not Madison. Not because she's weak- she's just a dark horse," Jayden said.

"I think it's you or Fable," Ruby said to Jayden. "You both lasted a long time and are really fierce fighters."

"Honestly I think it's Jayden," Fable said. "She's just so ripped. She looked like such a strong player."

"Great," Jayden said. "Well they better think twice."

"We should do a buddy system," I said. "No one should be alone in the Bloodbath."

"I like that," Fable said.

"We should pair up based on fighting styles. Someone who uses close-range weapons should be with someone who uses long ones, so the long-range fighter can set up and start shooting."

"Me and Fable are the long-range fighters," Ava said. "The rest of you use short ones."

"I can go with Ava, if that's okay," Ruby said.

"Can me and Fable be together?" Jayden asked.

"Wait, there's five of us. What about Madison?" Ava asked.

"You wanna just pick a pair and we'll be three?" Ruby asked.

"Okay. Put me with Fable and Jayden, if you two don't mind," I said. I liked Ruby, but Ava was not my first pick.

"What about when we're done with Arielle?" Jayden asked. "We should rank the others."

After some debate, we settled on an order: Arielle, Karyssa, Dylan, Cierra, Onyx. The plan was based mostly on team dynamics, and we stipulated that the order could be changed at discretion if the target wasn't easy to reach. We had a plan for everything, and I was glad I could contribute without calling attention to myself.

* * *

Fable Anders- District One female

I was really sad about Jessie. We'd grown together during the Games. I understood she would go with her sister, and it was really for the better. Neither of us wanted to lose the other again. It was better this way. All our allies knew we wouldn't fight unless we had to, and I made it understood that we wouldn't seek out Jessie and Chrome. We would fight if they fought us, we would even fight if the moment presented itself, but we weren't hunting for them. Both of us quietly hoped the other would die before our paths crossed.

We'd done enough training. None of the Careers really had much more to learn, and that left us with a lot of leisure time. I used mine to gather stories. There were a lot of mentors for One, and each one had a different background. I went to one after another, asking them to share a story someone told them. Kazuo shared a rather disturbing tale called The Tongue-Cut Sparrow. Estrella told a even spookier story called La Llorona. Hyden told a thinly-veiled story of him falling in love with Estrella, which was not what I asked for, but it was all right. Azure told The Emperor's New Clothes, which I already knew, but I didn't want to be rude. Peridot told a Brer Rabbit story, which was really cool. Jerky told me stories were for babies and swatted at my butt as I left. Blake told this really cool story about a book that never ended. Then I got to our latest Victor, Ravi Waterford.

"A story?" she asked, looking vaguely disgruntled. "All right, I do know one."

"When asked why he practiced zen, the student said, 'Because I intend to become a master'. His teacher picked up a brick and started polishing it. The student asked 'what are you doing?". The teacher replied, "I am trying to make a mirror." "How can you make a mirror by polishing a brick?" the student asked. "How can you become a master by doing zen? If you understand sitting Zen, you will know that Zen is not about sitting down. It you want to learn sitting Master, know that sitting Master is without any fixed form. If you practice sitting as Master, you must kill the master. If you are attached to the sitting form, you are not yet mastering the sitting form," the teacher said The student heard this admonition and felt as if he had tasted sweet nectar," Ravi said.

"What kind of story is that?" I asked.

"It's a koan. It's supposed to teach you something. My teacher told it to me," Ravi said.

"What does it teach?" I asked.

"I have no idea," Ravi said. "I never was good at them."

* * *

Jayden Chadsey- District One female

We were planning the Bloodbath, which made me think about what came after. There was a lot to plan for, and if I left anything out, it would get me killed. No pressure.

A District One alliance was nice. I wasn't kidding myself we'd be holding hands and painting each others' nails until the end, but it gave us something to rally around. Also, it meant I could be apart from Chrome without any awkwardness. We'd each killed each other once, which made us even. Best to quit before it got any worse. Since Fable didn't want to fight Jessie, we probably wouldn't meet up. We could go our own ways and die separately.

Fable was my Bloodbath partner, so it made sense that we should train together for a while. We just needed an action plan for the Bloodbath. After that, we were all a big alliance again. I was also partnered with Madison, but she was more of a floater. Nonetheless, the three of us met up to train.

"It's like football," I said. "Part one is that when the gong sounds, I run out in front and everyone gets out of my way since I look strong and I can fight without a weapon. I run in front of you two until we get to the weapons. Me and Madison get our weapons and we all go after Arielle. On the way, Fable gets her bow. We kill Arielle and then Fable can start shooting at our other targets. We keep killing until the Bloodbath's over and then we can start hunting. Sound right?" I asked.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Fable said, and Madison nodded.

"The most dangerous moment is the first seconds of the Games, when we're not together yet," I said. "Let me show you a few simple moves in case someone gets in your way before we're together," I said. I modeled an instep stomp and a nose smash. Madison and Fable both knew those, of course, but it was good to refresh and practice more fully. If either of them were by the other Careers, they would be better able to get past and meet up with me. Until the Bloodbath was over, we were family and had to take care of each other. After that we could start the countdown to the breakup.


	36. Random Peeps

**I did, in fact, mess up the alliances. I have them all written down correctly, I just forgot some people while writing the POVs. There's also six in the main Career alliance and five in the Ones, so they're not even like I had someone say. I forgot about Gloria (she's last on the target list, just because she's small)**

 **Coral's form says she would ally with the Careers, so she might want to join the Career pack? I'm not sure so I'll leave her unless someone tells me different. Also I think Jayden might have been supposed to be in the main Career pack? I'll see if her submitter tells me so.**

* * *

Coral Tide- District Four female

I couldn't get out of this one by killing everyone. There were just too many people to kill, and a lot of them were trained just like me. I needed a bigger skill portfolio. It seemed counterintuitive, but I needed the dumb skills.

Fishhooks were both mind-numbingly easy and maddeningly hard to make. In theory, it was a lot of busy work- twisting fibers together, bending bits of metal, chipping at rocks. There was also a lot of tiny, delicate movement, though. You could have all the components together, make one false move tying them, and the hook chipped and it was all over. It was a lesson in patience. Zen and the art of fishhooks.

The best thing would be to join the Career pack. There were two of them this year, which was for the best. Too many Careers together was like mixing a random handful of chemicals. I obviously couldn't join the One pack, so that left the other pack. I wasn't sure yet if I wanted to approach them. It might be the best idea, but if I was wrong, it would get me killed. There was only one path that led to me winning, and if I got anything wrong, that was all it took.

It was weird to be a ghost. It was weird to think my siblings had aged. It was weird to think they went through the same thing we did when our parents died. There was so much weird here. I was almost glad for the stress of the Games so I didn't have to think about how weird it all was. If I got home, I was never going to think about it again.

* * *

Luna Irika- District Four

There were two Lunas. One Luna was a fun-loving girl who liked being with her friends and loved giving people presents to see their faces when they opened them. The other Luna was her mother's daughter. She liked training in the Academy and being fierce. Being away from my mother finally gave me a choice. I knew which Luna I wanted to be, but I also knew which one I had to be.

Since I hadn't joined an alliance, I needed to be even more aware of my opponents. A chain was only as strong as its weakest link, and they were only as strong as their greatest weakness. Many of them didn't even bother to train, both because they didn't need to and because they knew exactly what people like me were planing. But when they did train, I was ready.

Onyx was the fiercest and coldest. That was actually to my advantage. He was so focused on killing that he had no regard for himself. He would do kamikaze attacks if the thought they had any chance to hurt me. If I just evaded his attacks, he'd get himself killed with little help from me. Cierra was a lesser concern for me. She wasn't to be underestimated, but she didn't really want to kill anyone and would avoid me unless I was a threat. Arielle was to be avoided until she didn't have any allies yet. Dylan and Gloria were lesser threats. Karyssa's weakness, as far as I could tell, was that she partly came into this looking for something other than victory. It didn't matter what it was, but her desire to find whatever it was might distract her.

Somehow, I wasn't as nervous about the One alliance. It wasn't that they were weak, but they seemed more pragmatic. They would prioritize their attacks, and I wouldn't be at the top. I predicted they'd last longer into the Games, and they would be a huge threat at the end.

If I wanted to get out of this, I had to kill people. There was no way around it. I didn't want to kill little kids, even if I was being tough Luna. I'd kill anyone who attacked and I'd kill people who were tough enough to gain me sponsors but not tough enough to endanger me. Some of them might have been my friends if we'd met a different way. That was going to stay with me.

* * *

Hal Baxter- District Three male

Since I got resurrected, I'd barely left my room. It would have been fun to see the Games building, but I had a plan. Ever since I was little, I had possessed a unique skill: the ability to be overlooked. Outside of being the sick kid, no one noticed or cared about me. When I wanted to get noticed, I hated it. When I wanted to disappear, there was nothing better. Here, I wanted to disappear, so I was playing it up for all it was worth. I did get out into the Games building, but I did it after dark, when most Tributes were in bed.

With all that time I had in my room, I studied hard. I studied plants, I studied animal tracks, I studied poisons... the works. I found everything I could on Games theory and read all the expert breakdowns on strategy and trends. I read them over and over, until everything I needed was memorized. I wrote it down and said it out loud to get it stuck in there harder. I didn't have much experience, but I had all the book learning.

I even trained with weapons after I got Beetee to get one from the training room. There wasn't much I could learn on my own, and he didn't know much better than I did, but we did our best. I practiced stance, and holding a knife so I wouldn't cut myself, and making a fist so I wouldn't break my thumb. At my level, I wasn't really training to not die. I was just sort of training to maybe be good enough that some people wouldn't want to risk it. It wasn't a very good chance, but what can you do?

* * *

Citlali Kenyi- District Nine female

People were treating me like I was human. I didn't know how to react to it at first. I was honestly confused when Chimera saw me trying not to cry one night and asked if I was all right. I didn't know anyone even ITALICS noticed ITALICS, much less cared.

"Did you ever feel like it was hopeless?" I asked Nassor. "No one else from Nine had ever won. Did you think it just wasn't possible?"

"I don't think any of us thought it was possible until it happened, except the Careers," Nassor said. "But you were second last time. You know you can do it."

"That's why I think it's impossible," I said. "I came so close once already. Why should I be able to do something so unlikely twice? I had lightning in a jar once, and I dropped it. I won't be able to do that again."

"Guess you're right," Nassor said. "Better lay down and die." He looked at me expectantly.

"All right, it's not that bad. It just seems so unlikely," I said.

"It is unlikely. Just not impossible. It's not only possible that you'll win, but it's definite that someone will," Nassor said.

"Do you think I can win?" I asked.

"I know you can," he said. He didn't even hesitate, and that made me want to cry all over again. In the orphanage, I was nothing more than a dog to be fed scraps and kicked around. Here, people cared about me. I had value- something I never thought I'd ever have in anyone's eyes. I would get Reaped a thousand times over if it meant someone loved me. I never thought I'd have that again after Atticus died. I thought he was a fluke, but maybe he wasn't. Nassor cared, and Chimera cared. Maybe I wasn't wrong. Maybe it really ITALICS was ITALICS the rest of the world.

* * *

Anthra Mine- District Twelve female

The rooftop restaurant was super cool. It all rotated so we got to see all over the city. I was a little nervous at first about being so high. Peach said I should sit on the edge of the table closer to the center of the restaurant, and that helped.

"What is this?" Peach asked, looking at a teensy circle of meat on the plate the waiter just gave her. "A dinner for ITALICS ants? ITALICS It's so tiny."

"Maybe that's why they're all so skinny," Anise said.

"There's a fat guy right over there." Ferrari pointed with her knife.

"That's not nice," Silver said.

"It's not my fault he's fat," Ferrari said.

"He _is_ fat," Alinta conferred.

"These are really pretty flowers," Daisy said, running her fingers along the flowers in the vase on the table.

"Not as pretty as zinnias," Zinnia said.

My allies were really nice, but I didn't like to talk much. Usually when I talked, someone told me to shut up. I didn't want to make my allies say that. They might kick me out.

I reached for my water glass, but it was closer than I thought. I knocked into it awkwardly and it tipped over. It toppled off the table and shattered on the wood floor. There was a huge noise, and the people at the nearby tables looked over.

 _Oh no,_ I thought. _I'm in big trouble now. They'll beat me for sure._

"Anthra, what's wrong?" Silver asked. I hadn't even noticed I was crying.

"It's okay, it's just a glass," Anise said.

"They're gonna be mad," I whispered. I saw someone walking toward our table and cowered down in my seat.

Smudge jumped out of her chair and stood between me and the man coming toward us. "We all broke it!" she told him, and she tensed up close to me like a wolf, glancing at the knife by my plate.

"I'm so sorry," the waiter said. He bent and picked up the larger shards. "I'll get a new one right away. Be careful not to step on it."

 _They're not even mad._ The waiter wasn't mad, and my allies defended me right away. They weren't going to leave me like I was afraid of. They actually wanted to help me. I hardly understood it.

* * *

Xegon Samuel- District Nine male

When I got Reaped, the biggest thing I felt was relief. I'd been trying to leave my life behind for a long time, but I couldn't think of a way. Dying in the Arena was not ideal, but it did get me away from my family. All families have their disagreements. Mine were just... weirder than most. But then, most cults are weird. They're pretty rare in Panem, but you can't outlaw crazy.

My father called the Capitol a den of debauchery. He wasn't wrong. People here wore things that made me want to cover my eyes. Then there was the whole thing where their biggest entertainment was killing kids. They were even weirder than the cult.

"Hey. You're Xegon, right?" The young woman asking me was exactly what my father described when he talked about 'painted sirens". Her skin was an unnatural but weirdly alluring shade of pink, her eyes were purple, and she was wearing a tiny white skirt that barely covered a body part I wasn't even supposed to _think_ about, much less look at. I concentrated everything I had on staring at her eyes, since they were the only safe part of her.

"Yeah, that's me," I said. I was always supposed to be polite to women.

"I've always wanted to sponsor someone," she said. "Maybe you. Would you like that?"

"That would be really nice of you," I said.

"Would you make it up to me?" she asked, leaning forward and staring back at my eyes.

 _Oh no._ I _really_ wasn't supposed to think about that. I could feel someone staring down at me, judging me for how tight my pants suddenly got and the images that popped into my head. He must have been even madder knowing that I did want to make it up to her.

"Y-yeah, I'd send you a thank you card! I gotta go... to the bathroom," I said, and I nearly ran to the nearest restroom. I stayed in almost half an hour, just to make sure she didn't wait. Even though I still sort of believed in the main idea, I thought I was free of all the trash they taught me. I guess old habits die hard.


	37. Careers and Smarty-Pants

**I didn't get yeses from everyone, but most of these Tributes are so old their submitters aren't active. I put them in and I'll remove them if I get nos. Miall already had a POV and I'm saving Priscilla's for right before the Games.**

* * *

Minos Vellas- District One male

The Careers were too bloodthirsty. The non-Careers were too weak. I was on my own. I had to win against a hundred other people, and I was on my own. I was trained and responsible, but it still didn't look easy.

But the Games weren't everything. I was already trained. There was no use straining myself in the training room and maybe pulling a muscle. And I couldn't just plan for the Arena and not have any ideas about what happened after that. I had to think farther into the future.

My old job might not be there anymore. I might have won the Games once, but I also died once. Fifty-fifty odds were actually better than most Careers had, but most Careers' parents wouldn't be interested in that.

 _Hold on, genius._ If I won the Games, I didn't need my job back. I'd be fabulously wealthy and famous. I could do anything I wanted. I could start a scholarship for underprivileged Academy students. Maybe not, though. I was starting to think that volunteering wasn't that great of an idea. I could start a scholarship for alternate career paths. Maybe I could use my influence to persuade the weaker volunteers that there were other things they could do. I could teach them a lesson I learned too late.

* * *

Ember Steiner- District Two female

"So we're trying to ally with Minos, Floki, Whyte..." I started.

"Miall the cutie," Shui added.

" _Priscilla and Miall,_ since they'll want to be together," I pressed on.

"Priscilla can fight and Miall looks good," Shui said.

"This is a very serious decision," I said, pretending to itch my cheek to hide my blush.

"At least it's better than Jerky. Dad and I were really hoping you got over that one," Miall said.

"That much we can agree on," I said.

"I want to add Gizmo," Shui said.

"Gizmo? The egghead weiner?" I asked.

"I saw all his tapes. The first time around he had friends. Things got weird after that. I want him to be good again," Shui said.

"This is hardly the time for a charity case," I said.

"He's really smart," Shui said. "We could use someone smart."

"You calling me dumb?" I asked.

"Didn't you once spell 'fortune' as 'f-o-r-c-h-u-n'?" Shui asked.

"I got stage fright!" I said.

"'s-t-a-y-j f-r-i-t-e'," Shui said.

"I only need four letters to spell what you are," I said.

* * *

Shui Steiner- District Two male

After great struggle, Ember agreed to add Gizmo to the alliance. Asking him was absolutely my job, though. She would take care of cutie-pie and the others.

"Hey, you're Gizmo, right?" I asked as he twisted together some wires.

"You know who I am. You've been staring at me for days," he said, looking up at me.

"Okay then." _Ember's right. This guy's weird._ "Anyway, Ember and me are getting an alliance together. Sort of a hybrid of some good Careers and some good non-Careers. We'd like to have you as a member."

"Who else is there?" Gizmo asked.

"Me, Ember, Priscilla, Miall, Minos, Floki, and Whyte," I said.

"I'm the only non-Career," Gizmo said.

"Guess you're just the best," I said. Flattery never hurts.

"How do I know you're not just asking me so I'll let my guard down at the Bloodbath and you can kill me?" Gizmo asked.

"If we were going to do that, we would just gang up and chase you down. We wouldn't need to ally with you," I said, thinking on my feet.

"I suppose I'm not worth that much effort anyway. If you were going to target someone, it would have been Minos," Gizmo said. He got up. "Ember doesn't trust me, does she?"

"She doesn't trust anyone, really," I said.

"Good," Gizmo said. "Maybe it's worth allying then."

* * *

Gizmo Torrens- District Three male

"It's just you and me now, isn't it?"

When Nubu and I first went into the Arena, it was him, me, Arter, and Zetan. For whatever reason, Arter and Zetan didn't have the staying power. We were down to two.

"We had some good times," Nubu said. "I wish things had turned out differently."

"We've changed a lot," I said. " _I've_ changed a lot."

"You only did what you had to," Nubu said. He was so easy to read. He said it with the sincerest voice, but he didn't look at my eyes. He was looking off to the side, telling himself a little lie wasn't that bad.

"You wouldn't have done it, would you?" I asked. "Not even to stay alive."

"I don't know what I would have done unless I was there," Nubu said.

He was telling the truth that time. He didn't know. Everyone else did, though. Nubu would have done what he always did: the right thing. Someone like him could only win because of a miracle.

We both faced the same decision, and we'd both made our choice. During that second Resurrection Games, I picked my path. I wasn't a good guy anymore. Nubu was something out of a comic book. He was the brave, square-jawed hero everyone could always depend on to come through when the chips were down. Me, I was the villain. I was the scheming, crafty plotter who always had a contingency plan. I was everything Nubu stood against. The only reason he still wanted to be friends is that he didn't want to put it all together. As long as I was still friends with him, I wasn't all bad.

* * *

Theo Kasius- District Two male

We were supposed to be laying low, so I wasn't supposed to be seen with any of my allies. We exchanged some sort introductions between our mentors and that was it. It was easier with Ember and Shui, since we were from the same District. We could meet sometimes in the Two lounge and not have to worry about anyone but the other Careers.

I wondered if Suki was still alive. It had only been nine years. It was totally possible. Really, it was likely. Dogs could live twenty years, and we took good care of her. She was probably still waiting, wondering if I'd been gone as long as she thought or if I had been gone twenty minute and she was just being dramatic. If I got back, I would get her the biggest chew toy ever.

After wandering the games center for a while, I found myself on the roof, looking out at the Capitol. I'd always wanted to see the world outside my District. It was one of the larger reasons I volunteered. There was so much out there, and we got to see so little of it. Even volunteering only bought you a trip to the Capitol. It was so much smaller than I'd imagined.

It was cold on the roof. It seemed fitting for the Capitol to be cold. Lights winked in the darkness, and the streets were mostly empty. I wondered about the people who lived in the buildings below. What did it take to make a city where people liked to watch people die? We all have morbid curiosity, but it seemed like a city built on it couldn't stand. Nothing lasted forever. Empires rise and fall, and this one wouldn't be missed.

* * *

Floki Grimm- District Four male

Whyte and I were in an alliance now. I wondered if the others trusted us as much as the rest of the alliance. They knew we were close, just like Miall and Priscilla. Not _just_ like, maybe, but close. We would go farther for each other than for our other allies, and we might even die for each other. Then again, I would die for a lot of things. That came with being a berserker.

It used to be I wanted to die with glory. Then I wanted to live with honor. I was running out of lofty goals to reach for. I was still a Viking, and I still wanted to live up to that. I wanted to fight, and kill, and protect. I wanted to prove myself worthy of a place in the next world, even if I never got to stay there long. After that, I wanted to maybe settle down and live a peaceful life. I fought when I needed to, but looking for fights was just foolish.

When I looked around and saw all the other Tributes, I could envision how a battle would look. I'd seen so much, I could hear the screams and see the blood fly. So many of us were going to die. I liked the fighting and the winning, but I didn't like the dying. Anyone who liked that wasn't a warrior- they were just a killer. Anyone could do that.

A storm was coming. That wasn't me being dramatic or mysterious. We all knew the Games were about to start. I was restless for it to happen. The only thing worse than a bloodbath is knowing it's coming and having nothing to do but wait.

* * *

Whyte Roberts- District Four male

"You're gonna get a lot of sponsors for me, right?" I asked Vera.

"Sorry, who are you again?" she teased.

"Your best friend in the whole world?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, you," she said. "I'll see what I can do."

"Hey, you're looking kind of... lumpy," I said. "You got a bun?"

"Three buns, actually. Only one in the oven, though," she said.

I did a double take, even though I was looking right at her. "Frankie?"

"Well I hope so!" she said. "Yeah, I'm pregnant with my husband. But not, like, _with_ him."

"I never pegged you as a mom," I said.

"I obviously didn't peg you as going with a man," Vera said.

"I guess I just have a lot of love," I said. "Hey, I was going to ask you. How did you win? I'd like to also do that."

"I ran out of fricks to give," Vera said. "I wanted to get back to Frankie. I always had things to live for, so that wasn't really it. Something just broke through and I became someone stronger than I was."

"There's no tapes of you winning," I said.

"It's supposed to be a secret, but they won't care if I tell you, since they think you'll die. Don't go telling everyone I told you, though," Vera said. "I cut Chrome to death on a table. I almost died, too. It wasn't something I wanted taped."

"We volunteered to do exactly that," I said.

"We were stupid," Vera said.

"We really were," I said.

"You more so," Vera said. "At least I didn't get killed by a chair."


	38. Randos

**Gettin' real tired of all these POVs, so I'm going into OVERDRIVE! I'm also going to go straight to the tubes when the POVs are done. I ain't got time for more POVs.**

* * *

Vester Mortana- District Eight male

 _All right, what do I have going for me?_

I can climb things. That doesn't seem like much, but it could be a big deal. Maybe the Arena would be up in the trees, like that one forever ago in the mud with the skinny trees. So I had one thing going for me, which was nice. I also didn't die in the pre-Bloodbath, which was nice. Someone thought I was worth watching, anyway.

 _But let's be real. My chances aren't good._ I wasn't going to give up and die, but I could see the writing on the wall. I should have a little fun in the Capitol, since I probably wouldn't get many more chances.

"What's the coolest thing in the games center?" I asked Tillo.

"I don't know. I don't go out much," she said.

"Wow. You're such a wet blanket," I said.

"Every time I poke my head out there, a hundred crazed fans mob me. You know what happened four years ago? There was a fad where you tried to collect a lock of hair from each Victor. I had bald patches for months! The only one who got out of it was Mars!"

 _Okay, maybe she has a good reason._ Tillo wasn't what I would call a 'people person'. That left one Victor to ask.

"Go with the virtual reality pods. They're sick," he said.

They _were_ sick. But a good sick.

* * *

Nairobi Ellis- District Six female

When I went out, I always wanted to flinch away from strangers. Only now was I finally starting to realize that nobody remembered me. Some people wouldn't like that, but for me it was a good thing. I wasn't the girl who accidentally burned a building down. I was just Nairobi, another face in the crowd.

I'd been scared so long, I barely remembered who I was before I started hiding. It was great to be able to do anything I wanted. I felt like a girl again instead of a premature woman. It was also freeing to know that it was too late to learn anything else. The Games were in two days. I wasn't going to learn to fence or shoot a bow in that time. I could kick back and enjoy the calm before the storm.

Two days before the Games, I wandered the games center looking for the single silliest store. Before I died, I was going to spend one day as a kid.

 _That's it. That is definitely it._ There couldn't be anything sillier than a stuff-your-own-stuffed-animal shop. It was a little unsettling to see empty piles of unstuffed animal skins, but I soldiered on. Since I was going for the silliest day ever, I selected a purple hippo shell. A worker helped me hook it up to the machine and I watched it fatten up like a reverse mosquito victim. After that I picked out the clothes. Princess Sparkle the Hippo needed an appropriately regal outfit, so I went with a silver dress with pink beads. She was a sight to behold.

That night, I held my new friend as I tried to sleep. I probably wasn't going to make it. I knew that. It was good to have someone with me until the end.

* * *

Volvo Courvaile- District Six male

Something good came out of all this. It had been years since I last took drugs. Withdrawal was definitely over by now. The conditions weren't currently conducive to a relapse, even if I was under an insane amount of stress.

"Hey, at least I won't ever be a junkie again," I said to Hemi.

"There are no junkies. Only patients," she said.

"Trust a nurse," I said.

"Psychiatric nurse. We're way meaner," she said.

"Yeah, you're a straight-up battleax," I said. She stuck her tongue out at me.

All Victors ended up needing massive therapy, whether or not they actually went. I was way ahead of the curve, since I was already in therapy. Mine was physical, and the problems had been fixed by the cloning, which was weird. I felt superhuman with my new hearing, even though it was just normal. I could stretch my shoulders all the ways they were supposed to move, like a stretchy toy or something. I felt like a million bucks. I was totally ready to go into the Arena and die... not.

Waiting for the Games felt almost right to me. Before I got Reaped, I always felt like life was too good to be true. Leaving drugs and gangs behind and rebuilding my life with the help of an amazing nurse didn't happen to people like me. I should have been bleeding out in a gutter like so many of my friends. The Arena felt more real to me. It wasn't nearly as jarring a transition as it was for most Tributes. The biggest change about dying was that now I had even more nightmares.

* * *

Flannel Twist- District Eight

When the door to my room cracked open, I wadded the blankets around my midsection and crossed my legs tight, burrowing close to the mattress. I tensed myself and waited for someone to slide into bed next to me. I heard footsteps moving round the room, but nothing else happened. I finally peeked out and saw an Avox tidying things up and laying fresh linen at the foot of the bed.

 _Oh. It wasn't that at all._ I wasn't sure whether to be giddy with relief or full of anger at what my first thought had been. That was all a long time ago. The boys at the group home had all aged out long ago. Most of them were probably dead, the way they acted. I had nothing to fear now except all the people trying to kill me.

Giddiness won out, and a manic energy settled over me. I felt like I could do anything, now that those boys were behind me. It was hard to focus as I jumped out of bed and got dressed. I forgot the Avox was even there until I whipped off my shirt and remembered she was behind me. I sheepishly shut the closet door until I was presentable.

 _I'm going to do everything today!_ I thought as I swept through the games building like a whirlwind. I discussed strategy with Tillo until she kicked me out for being too flighty. I went up all the stairs to the top just to see if I could make it. I rode down in the elevator and jumped right when it started so my stomach fell out. I trained, played, ate, partied, and only got back to my room far after dark. There was just so much to do. I had to do it all.

* * *

Ever Fellows- District Seven female

It was funny they picked me instead of River or Junie. They were both such strong, balanced Tributes. I was pretty one-dimensional. I was the knife-thrower. I threw knives. There wasn't much else that stood out about my personality. I was willing to kill, so maybe I got picked in order to thin a very crowded herd. I could do that, since it involved throwing knives.

My first trip into the Arena was twenty-five years ago. If I'd won, I would be forty-one. I would be almost halfway through a normal life. I could be a mother with grown children. Twenty-five years I'd been rattling around the Capitol. I was one of the 'oldest' Tributes, right up there with Celestial and Nairobi. I was an entirely separate generation from the newer Tributes. I could have been Dayley's mother. Now I was getting ready to kill people like him.

Sometimes I _felt_ forty-one. I didn't feel old, but I didn't feel sixteen anymore. I felt ageless, like cloning made me entirely new and outside time. Once that can of worms was open, there was no putting it back. I'd been resurrected in a body that reflected what I had before, but that didn't have to be the case. They could have put me in a body that reflected my true age. They could have put me in a _baby's_ body. I could have my mind but a body incapable of holding up its head. It showed even more how much we were at the Capitol's mercy. Even if I won, I would still be their trophy. The only thing that was truly mine was the guilt I would feel.

* * *

Mia Barnes- District Nine female

The most important thing was the Bloodbath. I could have a million game plans, but none of them mattered if I didn't get past the Bloodbath. Those first five minutes were like lightning. Anything could happen. It would happen in a flash. Anyone could get struck, and anyone would die. Those five minutes would determine everything.

I had a plan. It was either really smart or completely stupid. On the bright side, if it turned out to be stupid, it wouldn't get me killed. It just wouldn't do me any good. But fortune favors the bold.

After making a plan for the Bloodbath, it was okay to make a plan for everything else. I did _not_ intend to go anywhere near the Cornucopia, so I was going to need supplies. The Bloodbath was all about surviving the other Tributes. The first night was about surviving the Arena.

"Can you tell me, like, how to survive?" I asked the attendant at the survival training station.

"Don't die," she said. "If you'd like a more specific answer, try a more specific question."

"What survival need should I work on first?" I asked.

"Shelter is most important. Do that first. Then water, then food. The only exception is a desert environment. Then find water first. Fire depends on the environment," she said.

"Shelter first. Got it," I said.

"In general, you can last three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food," the attendant said.

 _Three minutes against a Career,_ I added mentally. First Bloodbath, then shelter, then Careers.

* * *

 **I count 33 POVs left. Only a few more chapters!**


	39. Long Impatient Chapter

**ALMOST THERE! DOUBLE-TIME!**

 **Two notes: first, Daniel won't get a POV since he doesn't really have an internal monologue, just like Onyx**

 **Also, TitanMaddox is doing a Capitol Games SYOT so send in because I did and I want to get started.**

* * *

Charming Goodwin- District One

Things could have been better, but I wasn't lost yet. I didn't regret volunteering for the Games- I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think I could win. What was less than ideal was the fact that a few of my fellow competitors hated my guts. Sammy and Ruby both wanted me to die horribly. Sammy at least wouldn't give me trouble, and I didn't particularly intend to go out looking for her either. Revenge wasn't as important as winning. In general, revenge just ends up making more trouble for you. Ruby was a problem, though. She had a powerful alliance now, all of which were probably poisoned against me. I was going to spend the first minutes of the Games running scared from an Amazon brigade. Not an auspicious entrance.

On the bright side, rumor had it that both the Career alliances were targeting each other. It seemed self-destructing, but it was an unfortunate necessity. We were our own biggest threat. We had to prioritize. Lucky for me, I could slip between, since I wouldn't be the biggest threat until the packs broke up.

Charisma and crowd psychology wouldn't help me this time. I ran the tribe for most of the last Games, but this time I was on my own. Some things were the same, though. I was still wrangling a bunch of people who wanted me dead. This time we were just being more open about it.

* * *

Natalie Andrez- District Two female

Well, Eridan wanted to kill me again. How did I know? Because he was coming toward me with his finger leveled at my chest, screaming "I want to kill you".

"Andrez! You're gonna get what's coming to you!" he spat. And I do mean _spat,_ since it landed on me.

"Victory?" I asked.

"No! Death!" he said.

"Oh, I was hoping it was victory. Darn," I said.

"I'm gonna tear you apart for what you did," he said.

"Like you did last time?" I asked.

Eridan turned even redder. "You tore me and Feferi apart!"

"You didn't need me to do that," I said.

"You ruined everything," he said.

"I also invented those really hard to open plastic containers. The ones that always pinch your fingers," I said.

A security guard appeared across the room, coming toward us. I gave her a sympathetic look.

"Don't worry. We'll sort this out in the Games," I said. I turned back to Eridan. "Again."

"I'm going to kill you," Eridan said again.

"That would make us even," I said.

I might should have taken him more seriously, but it was so hard. No one took Eridan seriously. He was only here for a laugh.

* * *

Cavender Jones- District Eight female

I wanted Brian to be happy, even if it wasn't with me. It had been five years, and I didn't expect him to wait that long. I didn't _want_ him to wait that long. I hoped he'd found someone else quickly and they were happy together. Brian always wanted to have a daughter and name her Taffeta. Maybe Taffeta was already running around somewhere, hearing stories sometimes from her father about the one who got away.

That dream was probably gone now. But the thing about dreams is that you can have more than one of them. There was more I wanted to do than just marry Brian. I wanted to see the world, and make something of myself, and be remembered. Now that I was on my own, I could pursue all those things with more freedom. Maybe I'd find someone else after that. If I didn't, I could be complete on my own.

 _How can I help someone while I'm in the Capitol?_ I could make an alliance, but I wasn't really sure I'd be that helpful. I wanted something that would last a long time, and- I felt horrible thinking it- anyone I allied with would probably still die.

"I want to help people. How can I do that when I'm just a Tribute?" I asked Tillo, expecting to get shooed away.

"You already did," she said.

"What? How?" I asked.

"You got Reaped," she said. "I don't talk about it much, but I have some... unpopular beliefs. One of them is that the greatest love anyone can show is dying for someone else. I never had that much love, but all Tributes have a part of that. You got Reaped, and someone else doesn't have to."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," I said wonderingly. I didn't know it and neither did she, but somewhere in Eight, there was a girl who would have been here if it wasn't for me. Maybe it was even the girl Brian fell in love with. That would be worth dying for.

* * *

Ethel Bulhera- District Ten female

The Capitol didn't know it, but they had a spy in their midst. I wasn't here to bring them down or usher in a new age, but I _did_ have a mission. I was going to find the cloning technology and use it to bring back my parents and little sister. I'd use it to bring back some of the Tributes, too. Just not the mean ones.

It was something out of a spy book. I was Secret Agent Bulhera, undercover in the Capitol and working under the enemies' very noses. I had a cool codename, too. Something _really_ cool, like Agent Fox. Secret Agent Fox, carrying out Operation Repeat.

 _Special Agent Fox sneaks down the halls, seeking out information. She evades the security guards patrolling the corridors and makes it to the library. The super_ secret _library._

In the library, I found the section on cloning. There weren't very many books. One of them was a textbook, so I ignored that. Another was some weird book about opposing viewpoints, which I was surprised the Capitol even had. I picked one of the others ones, a fat volume with a stuffy name.

"Cloning is based on deoxyribonucleic patterns of amino acids spliced together by synthetic nucleotide bonds, drawing from principles of neuroplasticity and regenerative umbilical stem cells..."

 _Ah, it's encrypted. I'll bring it to the experts for analysis._

* * *

Velvet Tek- District Eight female

Some of it seemed so natural. I loved being across from Bambi is a restaurant more expensive and romantic than I ever dreamed I would be in, but something wasn't right.

"Does it weird you out at all that I'm thirty-one and you still look seventeen?" Bambi asked. "I feel like people think I'm a pervert."

"We're both thirty. I just have a weird body," I said. "It's not weird. You're not a pervert."

"I read a book like this once," Bambi said. "There were these three vampires. One of them got bitten when she was five, so like fifty years later, she still looked five but she was a woman. They carried her around like a kid and she hated how everyone treated her."

"You read some messed-up books," I said.

"Then she fell in love with one of the other vampires," Bambi said.

"Did they... do the nasty?" I asked.

"They started. I don't remember if he could go through with it," Bambi said.

 _That poor woman. Stuck as a kid forever and you can't even have sex._

 _"_ Well that's romantic," I said. "It wasn't weird until now."

"Sorry," Bambi said. "It's good to be here with you again. It's been fourteen years, but I don't love you any less."

"It's been... like five weeks for me. But I feel the same way," I said.

"To earning a happy ending," Bambi said, raising his glass.

"I'll drink to that."

* * *

Calvin Heidi- District One male

I was alive. Then I was dead. Then I was alive again. It was worth pondering.

There were plenty of books in the library about philosophy. I wondered how many had been weeded out by the Capitol and how many great thinkers I would never read about. Of the ones that were left, I selected a thin volume of Descartes.

 _I think, therefore I am._ That was one way to define life and death. To be is to think. The dead do not think, therefore they are not. How, though, did they put the thoughts back together? The Capitol didn't hold power over souls, only over bodies. Thoughts were outside their control. They could make us afraid to think, but still we would think.

 _Why should I fear death? If I exist, death does not. If death exists, I do not. Why should I fear what cannot exist when I do?_ Epicurus didn't sound very smart. The idea of not existing was exactly what we feared when we feared death.

 _It is a secret of the world that all things subsist and do not die, but retire a little from sight and afterwards return again._ That sounded better. Emerson couldn't have known it, but that was exactly what we Tributes did. We died a little, then returned. Maybe that's what all people did. We die, then our souls return. The Capitol didn't make the souls. The souls were there, and they pulled them back when they made new bodies, because everyone knew bodies and souls were bound. I wondered what sort of man this Emerson was like, and how long ago he lived. Maybe we would have been friends.

* * *

Orland Corrado- District Ten male

Silence. I hate it. I always said there was time for silence when I was dead. I had been dead, and there had been silence. I hated it.

When you sit still, you start to think. When you think, you start to doubt. Actions speak louder than words, and words speak louder than thoughts. Thoughts are only ever potential. Actions and words have substance. That, and the doubts. I was so fidgety and active because if I looked before I leaped, I wouldn't leap.

Lots of the Tributes didn't even bother training. We'd all been through this at least once, many of us more than once. We knew what we were going to know. I took a different track and trained even more. I was a quick learner, and every little bit helped.

The ropes station was the place for me. I already knew how to throw a rope. Climbing a rope turned out to be just as much fun. Ten was flat, so I never got to climb up on high things and scamper around in the air like a monkey. I was harnessed in, so I got to take all sorts of crazy leaps. More than once I plummeted almost to the ground, which was kind of the best part.

"What do you think you're doing?" Bambi called up. He was clustered with the other Ten mentors. They often traveled in packs, since only Calvary actually knew how to act normal around other people.

"Training," I said.

"You're not getting much actual work done," Calvary said.

"You're just jealous you can't do it," I said.

"Nope," Bambi said, holding out his hands.

Cornflower cautiously started to creep up the easiest corner of the rope course.

"You _what_ , mate?" Calvary shouted up. She jumped onto the ropes and started hauling herself up toward me.

"All right, all right, I take it back!"

* * *

Cotton Thimble- District Eight female

The ropes station was real. The man running it was real. The vulture sitting on his head was not.

 _There is not a vulture there,_ I told myself. I was _not_ crazy. Sometimes I just saw things that weren't there. It wasn't often, and I always knew they weren't real. It was just an overactive imagination coupled with a very traumatic incident from childhood. We all have our demons. Mine were pretend monsters.

The vulture would go away when it decided to. I ignored it and kept practicing knots. Knots seemed like they would be the easiest thing to learn, but they were annoyingly complicated. I learned one, then left for the firemaking station.

"Oh, screw this," I finally burst in frustration. I toppled my unlit stick pile and left for the gauntlet station. _That_ one was fun, since there were different things every five seconds. I liked it so much I ran it twice.

It was really sad that the Capitol was more secure than my home. At least here the murders were expected. They weren't something you woke up in the middle of the night and stumbled across, making you more afraid of the dark than you already were. But it was just that one time. I really should get over it.

 _I'll try the sword station. Nope, too hard. I'll try the fishing station. Wow, that's boring. I'll try the camouflage station. Nope, too complicated. I'll try the shelter station. Wow, that's boring..._

* * *

Vesper Lynd- District Twelve female

"Just hit me. Full strength. Don't hold back," I told the top-level sparring partner.

"You're really sure?" the huge, beefy man asked. He looked more scared than I was.

"I have to be ready. Do it," I said.

I opened my eyes and my head was in pieces. The blurry face hovering over me reached out and pulled me up.

"What happened?" I asked. I didn't even know where I was.

"You told me to do it hard," the attendant said. Slowly, I remembered.

"All right, do it again. This time I'll try to dodge," I said.

"Are you really sure?" the attendant asked. He looked like he was about to cry.

"The harder you hit, the more incentive I have to dodge," I said.

It was a good thing I wasn't in the sugar baby business anymore. My nose was swollen and bloody, I could barely see out of my left eye, and I was pretty sure my tooth was bent after an hour of that. After much begging, I promised to use a different partner the next day and to go to the survival station for a while.

"Can you give me a level zero lesson?" I asked the attendant.

"Can you even see?" she asked.

"It's nothing. The Arena will be worse," I said.

"Can't fault your spirit," she said. I learned how to make a solar still before my stomach flopped suddenly and I ran to the nearest trash can. The smell hit my nose and I saw the reason I'd thrown up was because I'd swallowed so much blood and the puke was red. Which made me puke again.

* * *

Kerry Selmosa- District Five male

It was just my nature. If I see something, I climb it. Flagpoles, mountains, piles of rocks, it was all the same. So if you put me in a skyscraper, you could trust me to go to the top floor.

 _Wow, it's a long way up. I guess I don't know what I expected._ I peered over the edge and looked down at the side of the building. There were plenty of cracks between tiles or around windows. I could make it.

 _Gonna climb down,_ I thought. I swung a leg over the edge and lowered myself down. I really should have gotten a rope or something, but they would have told me it was 'not allowed' or 'suicidally stupid'. I'd just hang on to stuff, and if I fell, I probably would have died anyway. I was not known for my solid decision-making skills.

 _Woah woah woah what what?_ My legs were floating over my head. _Who turned off gravity?_ I held onto the ledge with both hands while my legs floated up in empty air. _I'm gonna float away!_

My panicked jump to conclusions was alleviated when I figured out what was going on. We'd all heard about the one time a Tribute jumped off the games building and the Games only had twenty-three Tributes. It seemed they didn't want that to happen again. They could have warned me before they sucked me into the sky, though.

* * *

Daren Gerard- District Two male

Georgie might still want me. It had only been a year. It took that long to mourn, especially someone as awesome as me. He was probably watching my every move, planning date nights and coming-home parties. _That_ was something worth winning for. That and not dying. But I should probably worry about winning before I worried about my boyfriend.

Unfortunately, my allies had gone their separate ways. Fable was in the One alliance and Jessie was with her sister. I guess they didn't want to ally with a Career who died in the Bloodbath. That was a little embarrassing, but there were two good things about it. The first was that all the other Careers could say 'well at least I didn't do _that_ bad', and the other was that I had nowhere to go but up.

 _So, how am I gonna win this thing? I got it. I'll take everything I did last time, and not do that._ As a lone Career, I wasn't as much of a target. During the Bloodbath, I couldn't waste time going after anyone else. I'd go in, get my supplies, and run out. And I'd stay far away from Amphilia. Some people.


	40. Penultimate Passion

**Just one more chapter and I'm done. I shall never give up! I shall never give in!**

* * *

Sita Alaya- District Five female

"I'm good at electronics. What's the best way to use that?" I asked Sky.

"The easiest thing to make is a bomb, but be sure you're ready before you use it. It's not pretty," Sky said.

"I have to be ready," I said.

"Yes, I guess it's different for you. You didn't volunteer. Don't do that," she said.

"What if it's a low-tech Arena?" I asked.

"Try to use the little bits of technology that seep in. Citrus fruits or potatoes are the easiest way to make batteries. I'll try to send cheap sponsor gifts. The canister they come in is made of metal. See if you can get an underwire bra from the stylists. They might not go for it, since they cracked down on undergarments after Jayden," Sky said.

"Try to send me stuff with wire in it. I always need wire," I said.

"I bet pens are cheap. Ballpoint pens with that little metal coil inside," Sky mused.

"How should I get food and stuff?" I asked.

"Don't worry about food. That's always there somewhere. Focus on water and I'll try to send some stuff," Sky said.

"Don't send food. I'll find it. Just send tools," I said.

"You're right. It's a gamble that the Arena will be verdant, but we have to make it," Sky said.

* * *

Hindi Kabyle- District Three female

The most important thing for me to do was look dumb. My family was on a lot of lists for a lot of reasons. My parents were highly educated. They spoke a foreign language. They were intellectuals. In the hidden history books I wasn't supposed to read, I learned what happened to the educated people in a repressive government. You didn't want people who might know how to stop you.

I needed to lay low and keep my head down. I could learn more after I was a Victor. Victors had some leeway, since they had free time and were expected to "better themselves". I would also spend a lot of time in the Capitol, which would give me access to more books. I just had to be careful.

It was eerie not having anyone from my Games. It made me feel like they forgot that was my year and wouldn't have picked me if they'd known. It had just been me and Kegn, and he was gone too. I didn't know any of these people. Some of them had been through the Games together three times. That was a big hurdle to overcome.

There was one thing I wanted to do if I won, even though it was dangerous. When my family was first stationed in Three, we were given a new Panemian name. My name was Hindi Hyrusha. I wanted people to call me that.

* * *

Aurora Evergrove- District Twelve female

Obviously, I wasn't going to win by fighting. I was going to win by running and staying alive. Appropriately, I split my training between those two things.

"What's the best way to get good at running in not much time?" I asked the attendant. _It's easy for you,_ I thought skeptically. She had legs like a giraffe and was skinny as a reed.

"Interval running," she said. "Run as fast as you can for a short burst. Then jog. As soon as you have your breath back, sprint again."

It was clear why that was so good for you. It was wicked hard. My throat got that horrible burning feeling, both my sides stitched, and my legs felt like they were actually radiating heat. When I just couldn't take it a minute longer, I switched to the shelter-building station.

"The most important thing is to keep your body off the ground. Lying on the ground will suck your heat right out. Put something down as insulation. The best thing is pine needles. Otherwise you can use dead leaves, sticks, moss, or anything else you find that isn't rocks or sand," the attendant said.

I laid one had on the example patch of sand and the other on a bed of pine needles. Even in the warm training room, the difference was clear. It was sort of empowering to learn these things. I was learning to keep myself alive- to be self-sufficient. No one should have to do that at my age, but that was how things were in Panem.

* * *

Dylan Aquarius- District Four male

"H-h-how did you w-w-in the Games?" I asked Shelle.

She squinted at me. "Why are you talking like that?"

"S-s-s-orry. I st-t-t-utt-er," I said, cheeks burning. It always got worse the more people noticed it, and I hated it.

Shelle's mouth fell open and her eyes went wide. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I didn't know," she said.

"It's-s okay," I said. It was nothing I wasn't used to.

"Anyway, you don't win the Games by talking," Shelle said. She was obviously trying to leave the matter behind, and so was I. "I won by using well-rounded skills and knowing the Capitol was vital to my progress."

"How will it be different with s-so many T-t-ributes?" I asked.

"It's going to be the same, just more," Shelle said. "Keep your head at the Bloodbath. They don't think you're a threat. Let them keep thinking that.

My cheeks heated up again. That had been my plan, but it still hurt that no one thought I could do this.

"Hey. They're wrong," Shelle said, looking me in the eye. "People are stupid. They think stupid things matter."

"I guess so," I said.

"I was stupid enough to volunteer, after all," Shelle said.

"Do you wish you hadn't?" I asked.

She looked off into space. "Nah, no regrets," she said. "Guess I'm still stupid.

* * *

Vextrix Webb- District Eleven female

Hoban and I were best friends. We'd been through a lot together. I'd lost him before, but it never got easier. Every time I got him back, I kept thinking we'd done our time and we deserved to be together. It wasn't ever going to be that way. If I lived, he died. There wasn't any way around it. Even if I won and Hoban was alone next time, he wouldn't be able to do it on his own. It was either me, or neither of us.

Deep down, I was glad it was over. We hadn't been kidding ourselves, even if we both pretended we were for the other's sake. What I hated most was seeing Kerry. He had nothing to do with any of this, but I hated seeing him. We'd been allies before, because of Hoban. Hoban befriended Kerry, and seeing him here was a painful reminder that he was alive but Hoban was dead. We didn't even get to say goodbye. It wasn't a slow death, or a drawn-out one where we could fight to the end together. One minute he was smiling at me, and the next he was dead. All I had left of him were bits of him in my hair.

It would have been harder for Hoban if he had been the survivor. He was sensitive, and he would have blamed himself. He saw the value of life so much more easily than I did. I was cold and hard inside, like a Career that never was. I wondered sometimes if that meant I was heartless. Hoban always told me it wasn't, and that you couldn't control your feelings, only your actions. He wasn't here any more.

* * *

Dayley Harrvis- District Twelve male

Life is short. I would know that better than anyone. I didn't have time to spend all day tying knots. I was going to be pretty embarrassed, though, if I was in the final two and the Arena was a really long rope and I died because I fell off and the other guy tied a knot.

Even despite that possibility, I was taking the day off. I'd invited myself along to Nash and Nubu's adventure. He was a cool guy, and Nash was a cool boy.

"We're raiding the playplace," Nash said.

"The playplace?" I asked. "As in, the place where parents drop off little kids while they go shopping?"

"It looked really cool. I never got a playplace when I was little. Why you gotta be a hater?" Nash asked.

"Smell you later, slowpokes!" Nubu yelled when we approached. He sprinted ahead of us and launched himself into a huge ball pit. "Ha ha, couple of rotten eggs!"

Nash was right. The ball pit was fun. The couple of Capitolite kids didn't even seem to notice we were twice their age (or five times, in Nubu's case). I hadn't felt so alive since... I died.

* * *

Sarla Mondins- District Five female

After all I'd been through, this was the hardest. Timber was long gone. He wasn't cute enough anymore. They forgot about him, and that meant he was dead forever. Calista wasn't back again either. Both my allies were gone. But that wasn't the worst thing.

They did something to Daniel. The first time I saw him, I ran to him. I opened my arms for a hug and he grabbed me by the throat. He slammed me against a wall and would have killed me if the nurses hadn't pried us apart. The whole time I was crying and screaming for him, but he never even answered. He didn't recognize his own name. My brother was a mutt.

I didn't see a way out of this one. I'd grown during my times in the Arena. I felt more like a woman than a girl anymore. That gave me a better chance, but also helped me to see more clearly. There were a lot of ways this could end. Most of them weren't pretty. At best, I'd last a long time. If that happened, maybe they'd pick me again. I wasn't going to sit around bemoaning my fate. I'd already changed from a child to an adult. If I kept on this way, I could live an entire life, a few weeks in the Capitol at a time. It was better than a lot of us got.

* * *

Totem Sweeney- District Five male

This time, I was going to do it. I was eighteen years old, more or less. I was handsome, at least somewhat. I didn't have any open wounds or communicable diseases. I wasn't a jerk. Someone out there was bound to want me.

"Excuse me. Do you have a boyfriend?" I asked a lovely Capitolite lady about my age.

"No," she said.

"You want one? Just for a day," I said, brandishing a rose.

"No thanks," she said.

"Nuts!" I went on to a pretty lady a few stores down.

"Excuse me. Do you have a boyfriend?" I asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Nuts!" I moved on to the next pretty lady.

"Excuse me, do you have a boyfriend?" I asked.

"Girlfriend," she said.

"Nuts!" I moved on to a mousy-looking girl clutching some books.

"Excuse me, can I help you with those?" I asked. She smiled shyly and gave me the books.

"But if I hold these, I can't hold this," I said, indicating the rose. "You think you could help me with that?"

She made a single tiny giggle as she took the rose.

"You might know me, but maybe not. I'm Totem," I said.

"I'm Felicia," she said.

"You doing anything tonight?" I asked.

"No, nothing at all," she said.

"It just so happens I'm leaving for the Arena tomorrow," I said. "Maybe you'd like to get to know me a little better?"

"I'd like to-" Felicia leaned in, cupped her hand around my ear, and whispered something that put my hair on end. Just because someone was mousy, that did _not_ mean they were innocent.

* * *

Jodie Jackson- District Seven

My homies from Seven were a pretty cool bunch. Jasmine was like seven feet tall, but she was still down-to-earth. Ever was maybe a little scary, but she promised she wouldn't kill me unless we were the final two or unless she had to. So the exact same as if she didn't promise, but it was a nice gesture.

"Everyone, I'd like your attention. I have something very important to say," I said at the Seven table. We didn't always all eat there, but sometimes old District patterns died hard. Everyone looked at me, some with expectation and some with worry.

"How did the snowman get to work?" I asked.

"Is this some sort of joke?" Jasmine asked suspiciously.

"By icicle," I said. Violet tittered gently. Jasmine looked at me like she was entirely done with my crap. Ever surprised us all by bursting out into honking laughter.

"What? Just because I throw knives I'm not allowed to have a sense of humor?" she asked. "You know, I once heard a joke about pizza. I don't tell it, though. It's too cheesy."

Jasmine and Violet groaned.

"I heard one about an egg once," I said. Ever nodded in foregone appreciation. "It was rotten."

* * *

Martha Lewis- District Eight female

"You sick or something?" Tillo asked.

I shook my head.

"You never talk. What's wrong?" she asked.

I shrugged. I wasn't trying to be difficult. I didn't even know the answer, and if I did, I didn't have the heart to say it. That was the problem. It wasn't that I had nothing to say or couldn't say it. I couldn't muster up the heart.

"Oh, you're like Mags," Tillo said. "I'm not really surprised. I'm just surprised more of us don't end up like this."

There were a hundred other Tributes, but I felt entirely alone. A wall of silence seemed to separate me and mark me out. It was probably a good thing for the Games. Loud Tributes didn't win, at least if they weren't Careers. I could stay by myself, silent and wraithlike, and maybe I'd win.

Everyone knew the Victors were shadows of themselves. No one thought about the reality that many of the Tributes were, too. Trauma didn't only come after you'd successfully faced death. It was damaging before you got that far, too. I'd already seen things no one should see and that I'd never really recover from. We all expressed it in different ways. Some Victors encased themselves in their houses and never left. Some Tributes lashed out or fell into depression. My memories came out in silence, silence that went to my bones.


	41. AT LAST

**That's it! That's EVERYONE! Except the people I probably missed. I'm sure someone will remind me as I write the tubes and countdown and all that. It's time to vote, though! For this first vote, there are seven life and seven death votes. Quick overview: one vote per Tribute, votes can be withheld in any number, guests can vote for 1/5 of a vote, and voting for your own Tributes is fine.**

* * *

Lyann Leavett- District Nine female

This was nothing that hard work and perseverance couldn't get over. Sure, there were a lot of us, but that didn't make things impossible. The bottom ten percent of us would die in the Bloodbath, plus there were rumors that the bigger packs were gunning for each other. If that worked out, a lot of Careers would go quickly, which would be great for us little people. There were so many big threats that it wasn't worth it for them to go after me.

The day before the Games, there was almost no one in the training room. Late in the evening, it was just me, Vesper, and Philip, all sitting working across the room from Onyx, who was creeping us all out. Of all the Careers, even the mean ones, I hoped he died the fastest.

Fire-making was harder than it looked, and I already thought it looked hard. I was hoping I could find something poisonous in the Arena like last time, since there were a lot of poisonous things in the world. That took care of weapons, so the most important thing was to know how to survive. I came from a poor District, but I was used to working in a house. I didn't even know plants like most people from Nine. I'd brushed up on some of the more recognizable ones earlier. The attendant said it was usually best not to try to learn about unfamiliar plants quickly. Many plants look very similar, and it's super easy to mistake a good plant for a deadly one.

I rubbed the sticks together monotonously, trying over and over to generate enough heat. The attendant had shown me how to make a bow, but it was possible I wouldn't be able to find any string or vines, so I wanted to be able to do it the most primitive way. I'd been sitting there most of an hour, my fingers slowly going numb and stiffening into curls. The joints popped when I straightened them, and then I went right back at it. All good things take patience, and that was one thing I had.

* * *

Eren Lindelle- District Four female

 _Hang Ten._

That had been Kaili's suggestion when I asked my friends what I should name my academy after I won. A lot more than ten were going to hang this time. It was weird to imagine them watching me die. I'd never seen Lexa cry. Maybe she didn't then either. They used to give me trouble about training and tease me about putting on a poor show. I wondered at what moment did they stop teasing and start to be afraid.

Never before in my life had I so wanted to train. I'd made myself go to bed at eight o'clock, since Games day started early. I tossed and turned under the covers, burying my head under the pillow and then dangling it over the side restlessly. _What if the bit of whatever it was that would have made me win was something I overlooked? What if five more minutes of practice was the tiny edge I needed to win? I should have practiced harder. I should have trained more._

It was a good thing I went to bed so early, since it was taking me forever to fall asleep. I checked the bedside clock every five minutes, dreading its numbers. It was like the day before a final, where you spend the entire night calculating exactly how much sleep you'll get if you fall asleep right then. You get so worried about getting enough sleep that you can't sleep, and that just makes it worse.

* * *

Marley Xander- District Four female

I really should have spent my last night training, but that didn't work the first two times. I'd had years to train. I only had one more day with my best friend Ava.

"You really shouldn't stay up late tonight," Ava chided me from across the couch.

"Yeah, yeah, mom," I said. "I'm going to bed at nine."

I probably shouldn't have been drinking, either, but it didn't really matter. The Capitol had fancy hangover-preventing juice I'd take right before I went to bed. I picked up the tiny bottle I'd brought with me for that very purpose and waggled it at Ava.

"So is winning all it's cracked up to be?" I asked Ava.

"It's better than losing," she said.

"Looks like it's been good for you. You look great," I said. Ava was still skinny as a rail, but she didn't look three days from death like she used to, and I couldn't count every one of her vertebrae anymore.

"One day at a time," Ava said.

"If I lose, don't be too say, okay?" I asked her, and my voice was serious. "Seriously. If you want to honor my death, the thing I want most of all is for you to take care of yourself."

"You sound like Pray," Ava said.

"Usually that would be really scary, but it's a good thing this time. I sound like Pray because she's your friend and so am I. Stick with her. She's good for you," I said.

At the end of the night, Ava and I poured out four shots.

"For Lottie," Ava said, and we drank once.

"For Olivine," I said, and we drank again.

I picked up the hangover cure. "For me."

* * *

Aliara Bavier- District Twelve female

Tonight, I was in the lap of luxury. Tomorrow, I'd be back in the Arena. It was hard to wrap my head around. The fancy sheets, the soft bed, the climate-controlled air, the gourmet food... it would all be gone in a second. I'd be back to being a spectacle for rich people to watch.

I didn't know how it was going to go down. Usually my strategy was to make friends and sneak around behind people's backs. I didn't have allies this time. On the bright side, I didn't have to worry about insane challenges or Rahina anymore. On the downside, I still might have to eat something gross.

I wrapped the soft blankets around myself, trying to enjoy them as much as possible and not waste my last few hours. I could feel time slipping away. I wanted to grab it back and stop the clock from inching forward. All I could do was lie there and watch the minutes tick by, each one bringing me closer to the Arena. There was a horrible claustrophobia about it, like the walls were closing in and eventually they would flatten me. I didn't think any of us were really sleeping, except maybe the Careers. _Great._ Another advantage for them.

This was my first time in a real Arena. There wasn't a Bloodbath last time. If it was anything like it seemed on television, I had reason to be scared. They didn't call it a Bloodbath for nothing.

* * *

Sofia Ferrari- District Six female

The sun was starting to come up. Usually that was the best part of the night, since it meant things weren't scary anymore. I wasn't usually afraid of the dark more than anyone else, but everyone appreciates that moment when light first comes in the window and reminds you that night doesn't last forever. This time, I wished it would.

Someone would be in to get me up soon, but I wanted to do it on my own terms. I got out of bed and took a quick shower. I dressed even though it was useless, since they'd change my clothes later. It was also useless to brush my hair, but it made me feel normal. I could pretend it was just another day, even though my heart was pounding and I had that horrible, light feeling you get when you tip your chair too far back. _This must be what it's like to have anxiety,_ I thought. It must feel like this all the time.

I kept the lights off as I worked. I was afraid that if I turned them on, everyone would know I was awake and they'd get me early. The only light was the steadily brightening sun in the window. I wanted to cry, but nothing came out. It was a cold numbness. I was so scared I didn't have any reference for how to express it. It just balled up inside me with no way out.

When the sky started to change colors, I sat by the window and watched. It could be my last sunrise. There should be a word for that- when something is beautiful because it's sad, and sad because it's beautiful.

* * *

Emmeline Blythe- District Three female

 _The Careers are both gunning for each other. The Ones will probably be targeting Arielle, and the other pack will be going for Ruby. Ember's group will try to stay out of it and stay strong. That doesn't give me a pass, though. Gizmo hates me. He's smart, so he won't prioritize vengeance over survival, but he hates me. If he tells his alliance I'm a threat, they might decide I'm a safe and valuable target. If they all come after me at the Bloodbath, there's nothing to do but die. All I can do about that is pray. Outside of that, there's a lot I can do._

 _The Bloodbath will be full of fighting and dying Careers. They're going to need all their concentration for each other. There has never been a better year for outliers to get supplies. This is the year to take a risk and run in. What I aim for will depend on the Arena, but I'll have sixty seconds to analyze the most important items for the surroundings. That's plenty of time._

 _After the Bloodbath is over, I need to keep moving. However large the Arena is, there are so many Tributes. I won't be safe if I run into anyone else. I need to pick a direction and_ move. _I need to take another risk and hope there aren't mutts that come in the night, because I can't afford to make camp. I need isolation. I need to go to the very ends of the Arena. I'll be the only target, but if I'm right, there won't be anyone to target me._

* * *

Tuesday Erelle- District Two female

Generally speaking, it was really embarrassing for a Career to die without many kills. It was great for me, though. I didn't have any allies, which was a huge detriment for a Career. That, coupled with my not-so-great performance and reputation as sort of brainless, made me a perfect Tribute. I was too small a threat for the Careers and just by being a Career, I was too big a threat for the non-Careers. An unallied Career couldn't ask for a better position.

I was kicking myself again for volunteering, because this was a majorly cool story. If I was an outsider instead of a competitor, it would have been the scoop of a lifetime to cover a Resurrection Games. If I'd worked my way up as a reporter and nabbed a job in the Capitol, I could be here as a member of the press, interviewing Tributes and gathering intel for a prizewinning article or bestselling novel. That was all the more reason to win, at least.

I wondered if my sponsors would send me a camera again. I didn't use it as a weapon last time, so they knew they could trust me. They might be mad at me for not taping my own death, though. When I watched the tapes, all they could show was a snowdrift, since they couldn't put cameras in the actual avalanche with enough accuracy to tape me. Even a reporter is allowed to have secrets, but a Tribute isn't allowed to have privacy.

* * *

Olivier Fowler- District Eleven male

The Capitol was good at magic. It could make anyone disappear. Reappearing was more difficult. Some of us came back, and some of us only got half of the trick.

I felt weirdly optimistic about my third chance. Most of us were starting to lose hope, but anything could happen. Maybe I'd die again, but maybe I'd win. It would make it worth going through this three times if I won the third time.

Sleep wasn't going to happen. My mind was running a million miles an hour, and I was fidgety with bottled energy. I got out of bed and took a deck of cards from the bedside table. I sat on the couch in my bedroom and started shuffling the cards over the coffee table, flinging them around in the fancy moves you do to impress someone before a normal card game.

 _People tell fortunes with cards,_ I mused. These weren't fortune-telling cards, but maybe they'd work. I opened the deck randomly and picked a card. _Jack of spades. Wonder what that means._ It was royal. Maybe that meant I would be a Victor. It was also the third most valuable card, which was less appealing. Third place wasn't what I was hoping for. The ace of spades was the death card, but maybe that was just one card and not the whole suit. Or maybe the whole thing was silly and I should go back to bed.

* * *

Priscilla Piscot- District One female

Before the Games started, there was something I had to get sorted out.

"So, what's the deal with you and my brother?" I asked Ember.

"I don't know," she said. "We just met. I shouldn't call it love."

"Are you in love or what?" I asked.

"I think I am. He's slower," she said.

I squinted suspiciously. "What color are his eyes?" I asked.

"They're green," she said.

"Suppose you somehow both win. When he's old and ugly, what will you still love about him?" I asked.

"I'll love that he thinks things through and he doesn't treat people badly even if they're 'beneath' him," Ember said, after some thought. "What is this, an interrogation?"

"I know Miall's worth fighting for. I wanted to see if you were," I said.

"Did I pass?" Ember asked.

"If Miall loves you, I'll do whatever it takes to make him happy," I said. "He still comes first, and then me, but if I can't have him, I'll do what I can for you."

"I'll do the same for his sister," she said.

"But if you hurt him, I'll hurt you ten times worse," I said. "Even if I'm dead, it won't matter. I'll haunt you to the ends of the earth. If you do anything to my brother, Hell will come for you."

* * *

 **IN CASE YOU MISSED THE TOP NOTE: See the top note for the first round of voting. Also keep an eye on the Survivor Games since I've been updating the TRibute list.**


	42. Into the Tubes

**I forgot I was going to add Celestial since she got nominated late. I don't think anyone was going to vote for her to die, but I'm still sorry I added her after the votes. HOWEVER, if anyone wants to add three more death votes they can, since I didn't really put much thought into the number. Usually I start with five for 24 Tributes. I don't have many Bloodbaths for such a large pool, since the number should have been larger to be proportionate.**

* * *

Celestial Yeager- District Four female

They say you die once and then you die again when someone says your name for the last time. That second time might be referred to as the time your ghost dies, because that's all you are after your body is dead. I'd been a ghost for twenty-five years. I didn't hold out much hope that I'd win after all these years. I was going to be a ghost forever, maybe. That second death was never coming for me. It probably wouldn't come for most Tributes. We were all written down in ledgers and records. Once the Games were done, everyone would remember the kids who died.

Once I got up, I checked for Dane, but he wasn't there. I always thought his story was better than mine, and he had a much better chance of winning. The Capitol picked who it picked, and their reasons were as hollow as the reasons for the Games.

* * *

Rhoda Hamilton- District One Victor and Head Stylist

"What is this?" I asked, fingering the beautifully embroidered strip of forest green cloth on the long table in the stylists' salon. "That's new."

"That's the Arena uniform," Hollan said, squinting at it with his hands on his hips.

"You haven't finished sewing them yet? You better get on it!" I said. The Tributes were coming in a matter of minutes. What was Hollan thinking?

"No, that's it. That's all it is," he said. "For the ladies, anyway. The gents get these." He unfolded the faded green fabric under his arm and revealed a very simple cloaklike garment.

"Well that's weird," I said. A years-old memory of a fashion show I did when I was maybe five years old came back to me. "Oh. _That's_ the Arena."

* * *

Blake Armani- District One Victor

With fourteen horses in the Games, I didn't have time to say something to everyone. None of them really needed me anyway. Careers were already trained. The only thing I offered was advice on the actual experience, and they all had that. This time, I was more of a sponsor organizer than anything else. I gave everyone a District One salute.

"Fight hard, everyone."

* * *

Pray Jager- District Two Victor

In my heart of hearts, I was hoping for Ember. I was a sucker for a legacy Victor. That, and Crag was being such a sad sack. That said, I would be happy with anyone. Preferably not Tuesday, because she was a pinhead.

"Okay, everyone. Whoever comes back is my new favorite Victor."

* * *

Acee Hal- District Three Victor

Shinju was fiddling with a little hair clip, flipping a tiny light on and off.

"Hey cool, you have a token this time," I said.

"It's to remind me of Lyte," she said.

"He's a cool kid. But remember to win first," I said.

* * *

Careen Ellis- District Four Victor

"Here's the situation. We're severely outnumbered by Two and One. Are we going to let them beat us out?" I asked.

"No!" everyone yelled back.

"Are we going to fight among ourselves and let a bunch of Ones and Twos make us look bad?"

"No!"

"We don't need as many as they have, because we're better than them! Right?"

"Right!"

"Are we going to _win?!"_

" _Yes!"_

* * *

Shane Donegal- District Four Victor

"Don't listen to her. Don't worry about your District partners. Don't worry about any allies and don't worry about what's right and wrong. Just worry about staying safe," I told Patrick.

"Is that what you would do?" he asked.

* * *

Sky Levings- District Five Victor

I had a bunch of long shots and a few good chances. Sita might come up with something if the Arena was right. Logan was one of the stronger non-Careers. Kerry had a lot of tricks and Totem was smart. It could happen. I never knew what to expect.

* * *

Lancia Audren- District Six Victor

Six was probably the least likely Victor. We had a lot of young Tributes and less savage Tributes. Looked like I was going to be mentoring another year. It wasn't ideal, but I felt like I had to put in my time before I could get relief. Nubu had been doing this alone for ten years. He was the one that deserved a break.

* * *

Hades Rodriguez- District Seven Victor

"Uh... okay, everyone. Just keep doing what you're doing," I said uncertainly to a crowd of Tributes much older and stronger than I was.

"What we're doing is dying," Des said. "Face it, kid. You're the only one of us who knows what he's doing."

* * *

Tillo Peters- District Eight Victor

I had no idea what to expect. There were so many Tributes, none of us knew what was going to happen. Tell the truth, I didn't really care who won. Whoever won deserved to live as much as anyone else. Except Careers.

* * *

Nassor Doyle- District Nine Victor

I was trying to be positive. Sinking into depression would just turn me into Tillo or one of the morphlings. No one thought I could do it, and I did. I lost a lot of my Tributes in the Pre-Bloodbath, but the strongest were left. I never triaged my Tributes, but this time it was done for me.

* * *

Bambi Kirkland- District Ten mentor

Calvary was a better mentor than me. It was good District ten had someone who knew what they were doing, since Cornflower and I were pretty useless. We watched her tell the Tributes what to do. I imagined their endings, and Cornflower memorized their stories.

* * *

Frankie Disney- District Eleven mentor

Eleven had a good shot. That was good, since I wasn't ideal as a mentor. I could prepare people physically, but the emotional cost of the Games was something I didn't understand. My method worked for me, but it did nobody else any good. That was a job for the other mentors.

* * *

Nubu Sanders- District Twelve mentor

"Thanks for doing all that stuff with me," Nash said. I couldn't say anything back, since I was already about to lose it.

"And thanks for not saying 'we'll do more when you get back'," Nash said. That did it.

* * *

 **IMPORTANT NOTE: Silver has brought to my attention that curiousclove recently started her first SYOT and she's been getting a lot of mean reviews (for no reason- it's not a bad story). Let's get over there and show her a REAL fanfiction welcome by dropping her some positive reviews.**

 **Deserted: the 52nd Hunger Games**

 **s/12775270/1/Deserted-The-52nd-Hunger-Games**


	43. Countdown

Daren Gerard- District Two male

I was not feeling my outfit. It was a weird stretch of white fabric wrapped around me like a diaper. It might have had something to do with the climate. The air was warm and humid as I rose toward the Arena. I was sweating, but I would have been anyway.

The countdown started.

* * *

Sofia Ferrari- District Six female

We were in a giant temple, in a big open circular room. The walls and ceiling were white stone, and pillars covered with colored line decorations were all around us. Carved golden animals that looked like tigers perched on each pillar, and the ceiling was painted with brilliantly bright circles of color on a blue background. In the center of the room was a giant carved white lotus flower, and it held all the supplies inside.

 _57, 56, 55..._

* * *

Hindi Kabyle- District Three female

This was what my parents weren't supposed to tell me about. It was like coming home to a home I'd never had, and it made me miss all the lessons and stories I never heard. I didn't know what any of the designs or letters symbolized, and I missed that history that was taken from me.

 _51, 50, 49..._

* * *

Orland Corrado- District Ten male

I'd never been one to shrink from danger. A bullrider faced death every day. Death was just something we had to live with. We all faced that here. All I could do was run in and meet it head-on.

 _44, 43, 42..._

* * *

Zach Connouis- District Eleven male

We'd lucked out. None of my alliance was next to any of the big players. Logan and Jay were even right next to each other. We could do this. As for me... I was a football player. I was used to running into areas with a lot of resistance. There was a lot to tempt me inside that big fat flower. Like the basket of yummy-looking discs of bread, or the other basket of fruit.

 _39, 38, 37..._

* * *

Akari Igneous- District Two female

We were right. Neither of the big Career alliances were looking at any of us. They were looking at each other, both trying not to seem like they were. That gave me a straight shot right into the heart of the Cornucopia. I could take anything I wanted. They didn't know what they were letting loose.

 _33, 32, 31..._

* * *

Charming Goodwin- District One male

The Cornucopia had it all. Swords, spears, clubs, food, tents, anything I wanted. It was all mine for the taking. Half of us would scatter, making a mad stampede that would distract the hunters. Some of us would run in, getting in the way and making it hard to go after any one target. The packs would be watching their own backs. I didn't need to make a flashy entrance. I was just grabbing my things and leaving. The others were safe for now.

 _25, 24, 23..._

* * *

Phoenix Hemlock- District Seven male

There was a bag of bread right in front of me. I wasn't going to get crazy, but I could get one little thing. Then I'd split. The temple was huge, but I wasn't sticking around. I could see the rainforest outside between the pillars. Like most of the Tributes, I was going out where it was easier to hide.

 _19, 18, 17..._

* * *

Jodie Jackson- District Seven female

The air was heavy with perfume. I could smell flowers and grass and spices all around me. I could see the thick jungle outside the temple. That must have been where the smell was coming from. It wasn't like the trees back home, but it was comforting anyway. I could get lost forever in all those trees.

 _10, 9, 8..._

* * *

Kerry Selmosa- District Six male

This was going to be a great Arena. There were trees and a giant temple. There was a _jungle_ out there. There would be tigers and monkeys and weird plants. This was an entirely new world. I was terrified about the Games, but this was something I never would have been able to do otherwise.

 _5, 4, 3, 2, 1._

* * *

 **You got like half an hour while I write the Bloodbath to get in any last-minute votes, including the extra three I gave out.**

 **In keeping with the death/resurrection theme for Resurrection Games, I did an Indian temple! Hinduism is, of course, known for reincarnation. The temple I used for a visual reference is Ramanathaswamy, but it is NOT an exact replica. That's an actual place of worship and I didn't want to be rude and exploit it for a Hunger Games story and have kids die in it. It just has a similar look. Any images of deities are not replicated in the Arena.**


	44. Bloodbath

Atwood Driftwood- District Twelve male

I was right between Onyx and Jayden. It wasn't a question of dying. It was a question of who would kill me.

The second the gong rang I darted away from the Cornucopia, hoping for a miracle. Jayden ran toward someone else, bringing me halfway there. Onyx came straight for me. Once he got a hand on me, I knew it was over. He tucked my head under his arm and twisted. I got to hear my own neck snap.

* * *

Spark Mitch- District Five female

I was hoping Jayden would go for Atwood. Instead, she came toward me. I couldn't think of any worse luck. Jayden was the one Career who didn't give a crap about the Cornucopia. She didn't _need_ a weapon. While we were both still running, she punched me in the throat. I felt something crunch, and I could barely breathe. I fell to my knees, gasping for air, and she grabbed my hair and smacked my head against the stone floor. She kept going until she knew I was dead.

* * *

Minos Vella- District One male

I didn't want to kill anyone yet, but I needed to be able to defend myself. I ran for the nearest sword that didn't seem to be someone else's target. I picked it up and turned around to run back out of the Cornucopia, hopping over a stiff metal lotus petal. As I jumped, a huge blade cut all along my back. I toppled halfway over the outermost lotus petal, wincing when the blade slid out of me and went back in, straight through this time.

* * *

Jessie Cabello- District Two female

Chrome was across the ring of platforms from me. We ran straight at each other. I reached the petals ahead of her and vaulted over the outermost layer, landing among the supplies. A surge of Tributes blocked my sight of Chrome, and when they parted, I couldn't see her. I screamed her name, looking around frantically. My eyes swept the floor, and I felt an instant of panic at the thought of seeing her body. I whipped around in case she'd gotten behind me somehow. As I turned, I ran straight into Onyx's fist. I fell flat on my back and saw him stabbing a spear down at my heart. A shadow fell across me.

* * *

Chrome Cabello- District Two female

I didn't think as I flew through the air, and I didn't feel the spear when it went through me. My motion carried Onyx's strike sideways, and I landed next to Jessie. Before I lost my momentum, I reached up and yanked Onyx's shirt down next to me, then punched him in the face. He grabbed the spear inside me and tossed it sideways, bringing me with it. He pulled up a leg to stomp Jessie's throat while she was still stunned. I got my knees under me and launched at him, knocking him and me sideways. I grabbed the first thing my hand could find- a survival knife- and punched it into him over and over, each movement ripping my stomach open more until his blood flecked my face and mine drenched my clothes. I barely noticed I was screaming the entire time. When I couldn't recognize Onyx anymore from all the damage, I collapsed across him. Jessie tried to pull me off him, and I smiled at her.

* * *

Anise Haefelle- District Eleven female

"Silver!" I screamed. "Silver! Peach! I have Zinnia!"

Zinnia and I cowered behind a pillar at the edge of the temple, looking for our allies. I didn't see any of them on the floor. Zinnia, always more optimistic than I, was searching among the living.

"I'm here!" Silver yelled, and I saw her running at us from across the Cornucopia, tugging Smudge behind her. "Where's the others?"

A rock flew out of nowhere and smacked my chest. It almost gave me a heart attack, since I thought it was a throwing knife. I followed its direction and saw Peach getting ready to throw another one from further into the jungle. Anthra and Alinta were next to her. We ran after her, leaving the Bloodbath behind us.

* * *

Eridan Medea- District Two male

I made it to the Bloodbath without incident. All around me, Careers were fighting over weapons and outliers were scattering into the jungle, only a few electing to disappear into the deeper rooms of the temple. I found the weapon I wanted and got my hands on it with no trouble. I looked up and saw Ava's arrow pointed at my face.

"I'm not supposed to target you. Too bad," she said.

* * *

Autumn Kane: District Nine female

As the countdown progressed, I unwound the fabric that served as my uniform, folding it into a thick rectangle. Luckily I had a bra and panties underneath, but I would have done it anyway. Ever looked at me askance from the next platform over, but it had to be done.

When the gong sounded, I ran for the water bottle ten feet into the Bloodbath. After I grabbed it, I turned around, tossing the fabric over my head and down my back. As I ran from the Cornucopia, I grabbed anything else in my path, including a space blanket and a multitool. An arrow thudded into my back, which was just what I expected. The thrice-folded fabric stopped it enough that it only gouged into my back. I might have been half-naked, but I was alive.

* * *

Sarla Mondins- District Five male

Daniel was after me. I didn't know if I could stay ahead of him long enough to make it to the forest. If he did reach me, I didn't know if I wouldn't just turn around and hug him one last time.

I heard a grunt and looked behind me. Daniel was on all fours, a throwing knife sticking out of his back. Ever gave me a regretful wave from the Bloodbath, and then she was out of sight, lost in the mass of Tributes.

* * *

Orland Corrado- District Ten male

Big risk, big reward. You can make a fortune riding bulls, or you can die. I reached the Cornucopia and snagged a backpack hanging from a white flower petal. Just as my hand fell across it, someone else grabbed the other strap. Kerry and I stared at each other, both wondering what to do. Then a trident slammed into my back. I spat blood onto Kerry's face, which I felt like I should apologize for. At least he got the backpack.

* * *

Gloria Martez- District One female

The throwing stars were arranged on the petals of the lotus, like smaller blooms. Cierra watched my back as I gathered them, since we'd heard the One alliance's idea of a buddy system and stolen it. Once I had my weapons, I covered Cierra while she got her sword.

The ones were all going after Arielle. Karyssa and Amphilia were clustered around her, heading off anyone who got too close. It was a stalemate, and it was leaving the Cornucopia wide open for any outlier ready to seize an opportunity. Austin and Lyann were already running off with huge hauls, but I didn't go after them. I took out a throwing star and searched for a target. I wanted to help Arielle, but my own allies made it so I couldn't get a clear shot at the Ones. To make things worse, there was armor in the Cornucopia, and most of us were already wearing bronze helmets. Determined to at least do something, I turned around and threw my star at the first non-armored Career I saw, racking up a kill for my alliance.

* * *

Ava Vave- District One female

We were _supposed_ to be killing Arielle. With my bow and arrows, I couldn't possibly get a clean shot. My allies and hers were crowded around in a huge death ring, letting the unwashed masses take whatever supplies they wanted. I watched like a hawk for a shot while Ruby made sure no one snuck up on me.

Madison and Jayden tried to flank Arielle, leaving a clean shot at Gloria. I smirked as I pulled back my bow.

"Ava!" Ruby shouted. A lot of good it did, since Ember's throwing knife was already in my head. My Bloodbath buddy _sucked_ at her job.

* * *

Phoenix Hemlock- District Seven male

The Arena was deserted. The packs were both fighting each other, leaving us losers all the room we needed to take anything we wanted. I helped myself to a backpack and had enough time and space to stuff it full of water bottles and small tools. Food wouldn't be a problem here. A few other Tributes were in the Cornucopia flower, but we ignored each other. Even Akari just wanted to get her supplies and get out.

At least I thought we were all ignoring each other. When a male Tribute ran past me, making no move to attack, I assumed he was just another outlier. I didn't see it was Daren until he already had his sword and was coming at me. I backed away from him as quickly as I could, but I tripped over a lotus petal and fell backward, landing painfully on another stiff and pointed petal. Daren arced his sword down at my neck, nearly cutting my head off. I wasn't sure it _didn't_ fall off, since I didn't live long enough to find out.

* * *

Charming Goodwin- District One male

I wasn't going to let the Career infighting lull me into a false sense of security. I was going to get in, get my stuff, and leave. Corpses already littered the lotus, each one belonging to someone who underestimated the danger. I scooped up my weapon and hurriedly shimmied into one of the bronze breastplates littering the bottom of the flower. Then I made my escape.

In the opposite direction as I was fleeing, Arielle and her allies fended off the One's attacks. The other Careers gathered supplies and ran after the Tributes disappearing into the forest. As much as I wanted to stay in the temple, I was still too outnumbered. As ignominious as it seemed, the smart thing to do was follow the outliers.

Nobody was looking at me. It took me totally by surprise when a knife hit the back of my head. It was the way every Career didn't want to go- stabbed in the back.

* * *

 **I'm not totally sure how many Tributes there are now. I think there are 112 before the Bloodbath happened, but I'm pretty sure I have forgotten one of Babyrue's Tributes. I know Atwood, Spark, Pepper, and Flannel and maybe Dylan. Anyone else? Anyway, the placings are a little tentative at this point and will become more accurate as the Games progress.**

 **112th place: Atwood Driftwood- Neck broken by Onyx**

 **I forgot about Atwood until now, and I'm sorry about that. I really lucked out that he got enough votes to kill him here and I didn't get halfway through the Games before realizing he'd never even appeared. Thanks Babyrue and sorry I forgot him.**

 **111th place: Spark Mitch- Head smashed by Jayden**

 **Not gonna lie, the same thing happened as with Atwood. I'm really sorry, and I made sure Babyrue had some Tributes left so they can be properly written.**

 **110th place: Minos Vella- Machete to the back courtesy of Jason**

 **I don't know why people picked Minos. A lot of people just wanted to thin the Careers, and I guess they thought he wasn't as connected to the story since he was from a different world. Sorry to see him go, but I do admit we needed people dead.**

 **109th place: Onyx Soul- Knifed by Chrome**

 **Onyx was sent as a void character, so everyone knew he wasn't meant to win. He was the obvious choice to vote out, so we did. In a smaller pool I might have kept him to speed things up, but we have plenty of killers this time.**

 **108th place: Chrome Cabello- Impaled by Onyx**

 **I was really sorry to see these votes come in. I was looking forward to seeing Jessie and Chrome together and hoped one might win. I suspect people picked Chrome because she's a threat, which is true. When I saw I had to kill her in the Bloodbath, I knew I had to make her death worthwhile. Hopefully Jessie does better.**

 **107th place: Eridan Medea- Shot by Ava**

 **It's not really important what order the Bloodbath deaths happen in. I just listed them in the order I wrote them. Eridan was another comical character and an easy pick to fill a Bloodbath slot. I'd say maybe he'll find Feferi when she dies, but I don't think they went in the same direction.**

 **106th place: Daniel Mondins- Throwing knife from Ever**

 **Daniel got made into an empty character, so there wasn't much to do with him. No one wanted him to win, so everyone voted for him. Only Onyx got more votes. (Onyx got seven death votes, btw). Now we know Ever is a bro, though. She'll help a sister out if she's not a threat.**

 **105th place: Orland Corrado- Stabbed by Coral**

 **We just needed more deaths so people started picking people. Orland only had two death votes, one from someone who just forgot who he was and picked a name pretty much at random. He didn't have the popularity to win, so it's just as well we clear his spot now. Too bad, though, since I always liked him.**

 **104th place: Charming Goodwin- Throwing star from Gloria**

 **I did _not_ have Gloria kill Charming as a "screw you" having him get killed by the youngest Career. I just needed someone who used a ranged weapon and was trying to break up the kills between many different Careers. I tried to play Charming up a little so he wouldn't get dragged down by a few people who hated him last time, but my efforts were as naught. I suspect Caleb saw it coming anyway, since he said he had higher hopes for his other Tributes. They're doing fine. So far, so good. I put Charming here because he actually did die before Ava and Phoenix and I switched up the POVs to add suspense.**

 **103rd place: Ava Vave- Throwing star from Ember**

 **Sorry about all the throwing stars. It's pretty much either that or arrows for ranged weapons in most cases. I actually kind of liked Ava after she killed Eridan so meanly and kind of humorously. Of course no one could see that and change their votes since it's the same chapter. Anyway, Ava was a diva, so we all knew she was going.**

 **102nd place: Phoenix Hemlock- Nearly decapitated by Daren**

 **I guess Phoenix was kind of a villain in his original story. I'm in that story, but I don't remember much about him. Too bad he died so quick, but we definitely needed more spaces gone.**

 **Well, we're almost down to a hundred. Yippee.**

 **NEW VOTES: Go ahead and send in ten life and ten death votes. You don't have to change your votes, and you can still vote if your Tributes are dead.**

 **ALSO! If you have leftover votes and want to do so, you can give them to me as wild card votes. I do NOT count all unused votes as my wilds- only if a submitter specifically tells me to use a specific number. I also do not usually use these votes, since this is supposed to be your choice. I use them only if there's a tie between a lot of Tributes on the death threshold and I don't want to kill that many people. I then would use a wild to bump someone over or save someone. I would only do this if something really looks like a fluke, like if someone's popularity suddenly swerved out of nowhere and I suspected either some people hadn't had time to vote or perhaps foul play, or more likely to save someone and stall for a single chapter with no deaths. Wild votes would be used to either save someone I know is really popular and something doesn't add up, or to kill someone everyone forgot about so badly they forgot to send death votes. This round I had fourteen wild death votes and three wild life votes. I didn't use them.**


	45. After the Bloodbath

Halon Baxter- District Three male

I had a new chance at life with my sudden health, and then I went into the Games. I was one of the smartest Tributes here, and I was in a Bronze Age Arena. You win some, you lose some.

The temple looked super cool, but I couldn't risk it. I looked wistfully over my shoulder as I ran into the forest. Birds tweeted and monkeys hooted high in the trees above me. I just hoped they weren't the same kind as last time. They didn't come down and eat me, though, so you win some.

I heard leaves squelch and branches snap as someone ran near me. It was probably just another outlier, but I still didn't want us to cross paths. I veered off away from the noise and vaulted over a fallen log.

While I was in the air, I noticed that after the log, there was nothing _but_ air. I pinwheeled my arms and twisted wildly in the air, barely landing on a tiny lip of soil on the edge of a huge gorge. Only then did I notice the pounding noise of the thin waterfall on the far edge of the u-shaped gorge.

"Sucks, mate," came a voice from behind me. I turned and saw who it was that had been running behind me. The others said Natalie had practiced with every weapon ever invented. I hardly believed that, since there were thousands of weapons. It didn't matter, though, since it was a simple rock she held in her hand. A rather large rock, about the size of a goose egg. She was already launching it as I turned. It hit me square in the head. It wasn't quite hard enough to kill me, but it was plenty hard enough to knock me off the edge. I got away from the Bloodbath, and I fell into a death chasm. You win some, you lose some.

* * *

Gidget Ford- District Three female

As I hurriedly stuffed stuff into a backpack, I knocked sideways into another Tribute. I jumped up to run, only to see it was Jeanie. She was mirroring my incredulous expression. Without another word, we ran together into the trees.

"What were you doing in the Bloodbath?" I asked.

"What were _you_ doing in the Bloodbath?" she asked.

"I wanted to do the dangerous stuff so you wouldn't get hurt," I said.

"That's what _I_ wanted to do!" Jeanie said.

"I'm a mom. It's my job to do things like this," I said. As we argued, we continued running through the forest.

"No, it's my job to do the dangerous stuff so you can get home to your kid," Jeanie said.

"Is that why you allied with me?" I asked.

"It just... felt right," Jeanie said.

"Well we can't both do dangerous stuff all the time," I said. The Bloodbath was far behind us, and I sat down on a mossy rock to catch my breath. "How about we're both cautious from now on and then there won't be any danger?"

"That sounds good," Jeanie said. "Let's see what we got."

We both dumped our bulging backpacks out. We'd both grabbed bottles of iodine, so that was taken care of. Jeanie had aimed more practically than I had- she grabbed multitools, a rain poncho, a handheld saw, and matches. Or some of it was in the bag when she grabbed it- I wasn't sure. I'd grabbed a first aid kit and food, so we had a bag of flat breadsand a jar of some weird-smelling paste.

"What's this?" I asked, picking up a big, flat package. "Oh, label," I said when Jeanie started to read it aloud.

"Camouflage teardrop tent," she said. We looked at the picture of a tear-shaped canvas sac hanging from a tree branch.

"Sweet," I said, then looked at Jeanie. "Do you know how to climb a tree?"

* * *

Troy Cahill- District Two male

My alliance took a minute to get together before we went into the Bloodbath. All of us except Zach, anyway. He just barreled right in there, not taking the time to think that maybe a football player might be able to provide protection for an organized row of allies. Luckily, I was fine on my own. Jay and Austin caught my eye from the other side of the ring of platforms. Patrick was already digging through the supplies when I got there. Demarcus scooped up some of the stuff by his platforms and cut out, which was the smart move.

"Let's go!" Austin yelled, holding a first aid kit. He was probably the smartest of us, and he didn't want us dying because we got greedy. I took a sword and I was ready.

"Zach!" Jay yelled. This time, Zach got the message. He ran out in front of us, Tributes scattering in either direction as we left. He held half a dozen packages or items in each arm, and the rest of us had plenty as well.

"Hyah!"

I didn't know such a loud noise could come from Eren. I dodged and threw up my arm reflexively, avoiding an axe hit to the chest but sacrificing my arm in the process. While Eren picked the heavy axe back up, I made my escape with my allies.

It couldn't have been long after that when I collapsed. We were just starting to flag from a sprint to a run, but I couldn't go any farther. I splatted to the damp grass. In front of me, Demarcus heard the noise and looked back.

"Guys! Troy's wasted!" he yelled.

"Oh, _crap!"_ Austin said when he saw blood covering my mangled arm. He yanked open the first aid kit and started wrapping bandages around it.

"Dude, I think it's too late," Zach said, looking like he was about to throw up. I would have been offended about that, but he was right.

* * *

Flannel Twist- District Eight female

My plan was horribly risky. It depended on two things. First, that both the Career packs went out immediately to hunt. Second, that neither of them thought anyone would do exactly what I was doing.

The temple was almost big enough to be an Arena just by itself. I ran from one room to another, trying to get as much distance as possible between me and the Careers. I didn't see any other Tributes. They all must have gone outside.

There weren't any lights in the temple, but ample windows let in tons of sunlight. I heard something clatter on the stone floor behind me and doubled my pace. _Maybe they're just looking around,_ I thought. All the same, I kept moving.

"Check in here." It was Amphilia's voice, and I didn't think she was checking for supplies. I darted into the next room. It was another stone chamber with carved pillars and a lovely ceiling. Too bad it wasn't a vacation home.

Two doors led from the room I was in. I picked the one on the left. I entered into another lovely room, but this one was a dead end. It didn't even have any windows. I dashed back into the next room, and Cierra looked up from the doorway as I ran for the other door.

 _Too bad I can't stay!_ I thought as I sprinted into the other room. Which was a dead end. No windows, either.

 _Only one thing to do now._ I crouched beside the door and waited for Cierra to follow me. When she appeared, I leaped out and grabbed her leg, sinking my teeth into it.

" _Ow!"_ Cierra yelled. She shook her leg for a minute, then sat down backwards, pinning me underneath her. She rolled me underneath both of her legs and extended herself so she had enough room to strike down at my throat. I kept clawing and biting until the end, and I hoped she got gangrene.

* * *

Karyssa Evans- District One female

The other Tributes were all hoping we would spend the next few hours killing each other. We _were_ each others' biggest targets, but we were in this for the long haul. We knew to fight smarter _and_ harder. They were safe for a while, though, because we had some things to take care of.

My pack and the Ones had both looted the Cornucopia in between spats, throwing things toward the side of the Cornucopia our own allies were on. When the picking was over, we regrouped on opposite sides of the Cornucopia, whispering and watching each other warily.

"Hey!" I screamed suddenly, raising my sword. The Ones tensed to fight, but I went on. "Listen up!" I strode purposefully to our side of the Cornucopia and grabbed Minos' folded body by his collar, yanking him up and over to our side one-armed. It took all my strength and I almost couldn't do it, but I definitely looked badass. It was all bluff- I wasn't that strong, and I hadn't even killed him. I grabbed him by the hair and smeared his mangled neck across the doorway to the next room, leaving a bloody smear. I pointed at the red line with my sword, then stuck it straight up into Minos' back, sneering at the Ones. "Get it?"

The Ones saw my posturing and doubled down. Jayden walked to her side of the Cornucopia, her allies raising all their weapons to show what would happen if we made a move. She picked up Spark by the throat and hefted him sideways over her head, her arm muscles bulging as she carried him suspended by his neck and crotch. She threw him to the ground and took Ruby's sword. With both hands, she swung it over her head and decapitated Spark with one stroke. Her allies went into the room behind her and stood in the threshold as she placed the head upright in the doorway, pointed toward us. We glared at each other from behind our newly drawn lines, then disappeared into our halves of the temple.

* * *

 **101st place:(? I don't really know. Give or take ten) Halon Baxter- Fell to his death, pretty much killed by Natalie**

 **I think Halon just got lost in the mix. I'm actually sorry he came to me in these circumstances. The terminal disease thing would have been neat to explore in a normal Games. In a normal Resurrection Games, the sudden cure would have been interesting. He really got shafted by this particular Games, so if the submitter wants to rename him or whatever, it would be cool to see in the future.**

 **100th place: Troy Cahill- Blood loss caused by Eren**

 **Adrenaline can mess you up, yo. Sometimes you're so focused on running you forget you're bleeding to death. A lot of people want to thin the Careers and Troy pretty much only died because he didn't get many life votes, unlike the other Careers who got targeted. He's not Jay's top pick anyway so life goes on.**

 **99th place: Flannel Twist- Stabbed by Cierra**

 **Flannel also just got lost in the mix. She also didn't have a fanbase since this is her first appearance in this universe. Too bad we couldn't see more, but it had to happen to someone.**

 **Feels good to be back in double-digits. I wanted that for the Pre-Bloodbath, but that would have been a lot of cuts. Like, 20% of everyone.**

 **Go ahead and update your votes if they're different. Or keep them the same, I don't care. just for transparency, I had ten wild death votes and three wild life votes. I didn't use them this time, since there weren't ties.**


	46. Another One Bites the Dust

Violet Robbins- District Seven female

"Did you grab anything?" I asked Lisette when we finally stopped running.

She shook her head. "I was too chicken."

I thought back to the mob of bleeding and dying people. "I don't think that was chicken."

I hadn't grabbed anything either, but that was all right. It was a beautiful, verdant Arena. We were walking alongside a thin creek, and a made a peaceful noise rather ill-fitting for the circumstances. We kept moving for hours, running when we could and walking when we had to.

"I think we're safe. At least, sort of," Lisette said at last.

I looked up at the sun seeping in through the cracks between the trees. It was getting lower. We must have been walking for hours.

"It is hard to climb a tree?" Lisette asked.

"It's not so bad. Let's find a big fat one and camp in there," I said. If the Careers found us and were able to climb the tree, that was bad news for us, but it was just as bad if I picked a tree that was too hard and Lisette fell to her death.

"Let's pick a fruit tree. Then we'll have food," Lisette said.

"How about that one?" I asked, pointing at an apricot tree. It had wide, low branches at first, but they were skinnier on top- perfect for skinny Tribute like us.

"It's okay, we don't have to rush," I said as Lisette picked her way up the tree. I stayed one step below, ready to hopefully catch her.

"This looks all right," Lisette said when we settled into a little perch between three branches. I picked a fruit and busted it open, trying to make two halves. I set the halves on a flat stretch of branch.

"What's that for?" Lisette asked.

"Just wait for the good stuff," I said.

Half an hour later, after engaging in small talk and paranoid surveillance for Careers, I checked my halves. They were both covered in ants. I picked up one half and gave it a lick, causing Lisette to almost heave.

"That's the good stuff."

* * *

Daren Gerard- District Two male

Now that the Bloodbath was over, both Career packs were looking for the non-allied Careers. They wanted to mop up the competition before sharing the outliers between them, and I was caught in the crosshairs.

Someone was stalking me. I knew it because of that feeling of being watched, and also the tiny signs and giveaways from someone who trained in stealth but wasn't able to overcome the sheer amount of snappable twigs and crunchy vegetation in a rainforest. It could only be a Career, and I had to assume the worst- that it was a long-range fighter. Whoever it was could pick me off before I even saw them. I made a beeline for the thickest part of the forest, where the greenery and obstacles would get in the way of her shot. Then I could pinpoint her location (and it almost definitely was a her, since most of the pack members were) and hopefully circle around to counter.

A rock flew out of a patch of ferns, almost hitting my chest. As I dodged, I heard the vegetation to my left rustle and saw a flurry of movement. Another flurry on my right told me exactly what was going on, and I immediately ran for it.

It wasn't a stalker. It was many of them. Whichever pack it was had banded together to target one person at a time with a minimum of risk. My pursuers realized the jig was up and revealed themselves as Madison and Jayden.

"Where you going, Daren?" Ruby's voice came from ahead of me. I changed directions again, and the three girls made a half-circle around me as they gave chase. Whenever I tried to move sideways, one or the other would dart out. I ran straight ahead, taking comfort in the fact that I was outpacing them.

The trees parted, leaving me in a small clearing. I turned around and faced my enemies with my sword up, knowing what their plan was and also knowing it was too late. I almost heard the faint snap of a bowstring. I couldn't see Fable from her probable perch in a tree at the clearing's perimeter, but she could see me perfectly.

* * *

Anthra Mine- District Twelve female

My allies and I huddled under a mud overhang by a river. Peach had said we should find water first, so that was taken care of. Our next priority was finding food, which seemed pretty easy in an Arena like this. I wasn't used to a

Actually picking my own food. It sounded kind of pure and exciting, really.

"I'm going to go out and look for food," Alinta said. Silver looked like she wanted to tell her to stay, but she knew both that she wasn't Alinta's mother and that if she told Alinta not to do something, she would do it twice as hard.

"Be careful," Anise said. She went out a minute after Alinta so she could pretend she wasn't keeping an eye on her.

"Fish," Smudge said, and she squatted by the river's edge, pulling at her shoelaces and trying to make a hook. Silver set about laying leaves down in our muddy home to make it more comfortable, and Zinnia joined Smudge in her efforts.

I wanted to find food for my allies, so I cautiously started down the riverbank. I wasn't going to get out of sight. I was just going to see if I could see any fruit trees. I tiptoed down the muddy bank, sliding into the water occasionally when the mud gave away.

At a bend in the river, I scrambled to the top of the bank. I hooked my arms over the top and hauled myself over the lip. I lifted my head and looked straight into the golden eyes and sleek stripes of a tiger.

The tiger surged forward and I pushed back on its nose, propelling myself back into the shallows. The tiger leapt down after me, its front paws landing on my chest and it jaws closing around my neck. I bore down on me, crushing my throat and cutting off my air.

" _Hey! Hey!"_

In my peripherals, I could barely see Zinnia and Smudge splashing toward me, throwing rocks at the tiger. Silver ran after them. Rocks pelted into the tiger's side. They weren't going to stop the tiger, but it did rear back with me still in its jaws. It vaulted over the riverbank like I was nothing and carried me away into the forest, and I was dead long before it started eating me.

* * *

Demarcus King- District Three male

"He's dead? Just like that?" Austin asked.

"You can bleed to death just like that. Especially in a knife fight," I said.

"True that," Logan said.

"What, you have _experience_ with this?" Austin asked.

Logan and I gave him identical 'you're so stupid' looks. "We're in _gangs,_ " I said. "It wasn't even a big deal."

"Did you ever stab someone?" Zach asked.

"Not me," I said.

"I did," Logan said. "Someone starts a fight, I finish it."

"We should bury him," Jay said. He always took it so hard when an ally died, like it was his fault. I got the idea, but he didn't have to be _that_ guilty. It wasn't like he was our caretaker and we were helpless. If we got killed, it was our own fault.

"They'll dig him up with the big claw thing," Zach said. So we left Troy unburied and moved on to get away from him, after paying respects.

"Excuse me for a minute," I said a few hours later. There were perks to being a boy. It was _way_ easier for us to go without a real bathroom.

While in the middle of the act, I heard a noise and looked up. Theo stood right behind me, his axe over my head.

"Hey, man," I said, and Theo paused. "Be cool. One man to another. Just let me put it back," I said.

Theo gave me the universal man nod and looked up. He still killed me after, but at least he was a bro.

* * *

 **I'm trying to use a ton of cool Indian motifs this time around, so of course there's a tiger! And this is not the only tiger... Also a lotus is the symbol of plenty in India (according to five minutes on Google), so it pretty much is their Cornucopia, if a Cornucopia is a "horn of plenty" here. It was either that or a peacock with supplies pinned to its flared tail feathers. I'll just have to put a peacock somewhere else.**

 **98th place: Daren Gerard- Shot by Fable**

 **I was hoping Daren would last a while since I killed him in the Bloodbath last time. He was almost dead in the Bloodbath, but I made the cutoff higher so I could keep him and a few other people tied with him. This time he fell victim to people wanting fewer Careers. The lot fell to him and now he's dead again. At least this time it took four Careers in a coordinated hunt.**

 **97th place: Anthra Mine- Pounced upon by tiger**

 **Hey, at least tigers are pretty, right? Anthra didn't get that many death votes. She just had even fewer life votes. I knew Silver wouldn't mind losing her, so I went ahead and did it. She had a good time with her allies though, and she got to see she was valuable.**

 **96th place: Demarcus King- Axed by Theo**

 **There are probably at least half a dozen Tributes that have died trying to answer nature's call. Usually I don't describe such moments, but this time I did. Multiple people who voted for Demarcus to die said they did so by default since he was the least memorable Jayhawk. I know Jay wants others to win more, so I focus more on them anyway.**


	47. Rakshasa

**Right now I'm still killing people rapid-fire to thin numbers. It's still actually day one, so I haven't done cannons yet. They're going to need their own chapter, which will come up next.**

* * *

Whyte Roberts- District Four male

How dumb do you have to be to get separated from your alliance at the Bloodbath? Especially when you have like five allies? Of course, it would have helped matters if Viola hadn't thrown a mace at me, knocking the wind out of me and making it so I couldn't see straight. When I saw her getting ready to throw something else heavy, I had to run for it. At least I got a trident before I made my ignominious retreat.

There was a lot of rainforest to go through. My allies could be anywhere, and so could all the people who wanted to kill me. Also I had to worry about tigers, killer monkeys, big ol' snakes, probably crocodiles, poisonous spiders, and those big nasty bears. Tropical paradise this was not.

 _Where would they go?_ Shui and Gizmo were the eggheads. The others would ask them what was the best direction. Shui was more of a bookworm. Gizmo was the practical one. He would probably say something about going downhill to find water. Downhill it was, then.

On the bright side, some of my allies were pretty easy to recognize. Priscilla had no low volume setting. With this many strong allies, she didn't have to be that careful about noise unless she was hunting. Floki walked like an elephant, so he would definitely be leaving some prints. That was one of the perks of having a big alliance. We were definitely more high-profile.

* * *

Sofia Ferrari- District Six female

There were no fruit trees in my area. That was just the way I wanted it, since it meant no one else would want to camp there. There were some bowl-shaped flowers that held water, and there was a giant termite mound. Termites crawled on the grass and branches- not so many that they covered me, but enough to make the place look itchy and gross. That would keep the others out, but to me, it just looked delicious. Like a monkey, I would just poke a stick into one of the holes and bring it out covered in termites. Sometimes they nipped my fingers when I picked them up, but I always got the last laugh.

"Buon appetito," I said to myself before I bit a termite in half. Like I'd always heard, they tasted mild and nutty. The only thing I could have done without was the tickly feet.

Everyone imagined how scary it was to be in the Games, but we always thought of the chases and hunts. Before I came, I never imagined the constant sick dread I would feel every second of the day. Not being able to see any threats just made me wonder how far away they were and if, at any second, they might pop out.

I wasn't wrong. I heard a twig snap and dove behind the termite mound to avoid any ranged weapons. I peeked around the mound and saw Jason holding a machete like something from a horror movie. I scrambled up to run the other way, but Valerie was coming at me from that direction. She pulled up her foot suddenly and squawked.

"Ew! Ants!" she said.

"Need me to squish them for you?" Jason teased.

"No, no, I'll do it," Valerie said. She made her way toward me, pulling up her feet comically with each step.

As she came closer, I cupped my hand by one of the holes and gathered a handful of termites. When she grabbed my collar to stab me, I threw them in her face.

"Eek!" she cried, and she let go of me. I dodged past her, but she stabbed me as I went. The sword went right through me. It was a good try, anyway. As I bled out, I heard Valerie brushing herself off.

"That was so gross!"

* * *

Filly Kozlov- District Ten male

"I can't believe none of us died," I said. Things were finally settling down. The sun was setting, we were a long way from the Bloodbath, and we were working on a little dome-shaped shelter that would blend with the short vegetation.

"What a thing to say." Ally put her hands on her hips.

"I'm just surprised is all," I said. "There were so many Careers."

"They didn't even notice us," Addie said.

"They were all fighting each other," Nash said. "Lucky us."

"Maybe they'll all kill each other and the rest of us will wander around until all but one of us dies," Soya said.

"Does this look done to you?" Nash asked about our shelter.

"It looks good to me," Ally said.

I kept piling more leaves onto it, arranging them and rearranging them so they looked natural. I kept puttering around until some of the others started to climb into it.

"It feels safer in here," Soya said.

"Once all the Careers are gone, we can use our light," Ally said. Addie and me had both grabbed things at the Bloodbath. I took a tool kit, while she went for a backpack. One of the things in it was a lantern.

"You coming or what?" Nash asked, poking her head out. "You can't work on it forever. What if someone sees you and you die because you were trying to make it harder to see us?"

She was right. This time it was actually better not to work. And it _did_ feel safer inside.

* * *

Luna Irika- District Four female

I'd made my choice. When the fighting broke out, I stayed back. I grabbed a bow for self-defense and a fishing kit for convenience, then got out of there. If my mother wanted to have a Victor in the family, she could do it herself. From now on I was doing it my way.

When I saw the waterfall in the gorge, I skirted around to the top and made my way down the river until it got pretty wide. I passed some skinnier branches on the way and left those to the outliers who wanted to go unnoticed. At the wide part of the river, where the flow was hard enough to make a decent amount of noise and the current would have swept even me away if I didn't swim diagonally, I built a little lean-to under an overhang and got to fishing.

Within minutes, I got my first fish. I pulled it out and found myself holding up a wiggling black eel. _No problem,_ I thought. We didn't get many eels in Four unless we went during certain times to certain places, but eels were good stuff. They were much milder than most fish, and they had a velvety texture. They were also good raw, which was convenient. I used tiny knife in the fishing kit to skin and clean the eel, then dropped another line in.

Out of nowhere, a lightning strike of pain flashed in a thin line across my back. _I've been bitten by a snake!_ I thought as I gasped and faceplanted into the shallow edge of the river. The amount of blood that flowed into the water proved me wrong. Then I saw the reflection in the water of the girl that had until then been hidden by the curve of the bank.

I'd never seen anyone use a whip in the Games. It was no ordinary whip, though. The rope glittered with the tiny slivers of metal that had slashed me open. I put up my hands across my face as the girl struck again. She aimed diagonally across me so the rope coiled around my throat. She yanked me toward her and the metal sliced into my throat. I went to unwind it, but it was like grabbing razor blades. The sharp, slicing pain was unbearable as the water roiled red around me. I wished she would pull again just to end it, and she did.

* * *

Dylan Aquarius- District Four male

I heard a cannon and looked up from my fishing. Someone just died. I might should have felt bad or something, but I didn't know who it was, and I could only care about myself. A minute later I was back to fishing like nothing had happened.

Something rustled in the trees. Immediately I was on my feet, scanning the forest for whatever horrible mutt might be stalking me. Then Gloria came into view, crouching on a branch.

"Catch anything?" she asked. She had a death grip on the branch above her with both hands, like she was barely holding on.

"A couple fish," I said. "But don't let me bother you. I'll find another spot." I didn't want to fight unless I had to. That was just stupid. There was plenty of river for everyone. If that made her think she'd won, whatever.

"That's all right. We already caught something," she said. She pointed down. Arielle emerged in front of me, having no doubt snuck up while Gloria distracted me.

"You want a fight? Is that it?" I asked. I took the three-inch knife from the fishing kit and brandished it at her. She knew knife fights were ugly, even if hers was longer.

"No. We want to kill," she said. Gloria jumped down next to her. My bluff was called and I couldn't fight two people. I turned to run down the river and saw Karyssa waiting. She waved at me. I turned the other way. Cierra was blocking that escape.

"There's nowhere to go but up," Arielle said.

There was only one thing to do. "That's w-what you think," I said, and I smiled evilly. Arielle and Gloria hesitated suspiciously. I waved the knife wildly, and they looked at each other and chuckled. Then I turned around and jumped into the swollen river.

People from Four swim like fish, but we know water isn't anything to mess with. The second I hit the water, I was tossed around like a sock in a washing machine. I caught sips of air when I happened to face up, and I blindly swam for what seemed like the edge, bashing against rocks all the way.

When I heard crashing, I knew I was in trouble. I hadn't been far upstream from the waterfall, and the water would only get faster. I felt ground under my feet and swam that way. I wouldn't even know when I reached the end. I would just be suddenly weightless.

My fingers touched grass and I dug in. The water pulled me straight instantly. I rolled sideways and felt dirt lodge under my fingernails as I hauled myself out. As I panted for breath on the far bank, I looked downriver. I was five feet from death. So really I was right where I started.

* * *

Mia Barnes- District Nine female

 _I wish I had some allies._

It was weird having no one to talk to. There were some birds and a little blue lizard that scuttled by, but that was it. I wished the lizard had stuck around. I would have shared my cherries with it. There were plenty more on the cherry trees all around. That or the banana trees, or the orange trees, or the pear trees. They didn't have cherries, of course, but you know.

 _Never mind I do not want anyone to talk to. I realize now my mistake._

Whatever the thing staring at me from between two trees was, I did _not_ want to talk to it. It was taller than me and had black skin, or maybe fur. It was hard to pay attention to that when it had a huge mouth with two fangs on both jaws and two red eyes with comically stark irises and little beady pupils.

"Hello?" I said reflexively.

The mutt said nothing, but it put out a huge clawed hand. It curled its fingers and pointed to its open mouth.

"You hungry?" I asked.

The mutt nodded.

"You... like cherries?" I asked, holding out some fruit with a nervous grin.

The mutt shook its head.

"So... what do you like?" I asked, trying to slowly back away.

The mutt pointed at me.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

* * *

Totem Sweeney- District Five male

So far, so good. I'd avoided the Careers and set myself up in a nice pear tree. The pears were a little green, but they got the job done. With luck the others would think no one was dumb enough to camp in a tree with gross fruit.

When I was in school, they always told me I was 'gifted' and 'super smart' and 'a total genius'. I always thought they were full of it, since I never amounted to as much as I should have if I was that smart. I could play the bassoon crazy well, but so could my friend Rotor, and he was dumb as a bag of hammers. All that aside, I did know a few things. I knew I had to lay low until the crowd was seriously smaller. I could be the smartest boy in the world, but that didn't make me stab-proof.

I thought I was imagining things when a branch started moving. Either it was those scary monkeys from the other jungle Arena, or it was a disguised Tribute. Either way, I wanted no part of it. I climbed out on the tip of a branch and started making my way to another tree. The branch followed me, and that point I realized it was not a branch.

 _That is one big snake._ The end of the humongous green-brown tube arced up in the air and came toward me. When it got through the leaves surrounding me, I was faced with two eyes the size of baseballs.

 _It must be a constrictor,_ me genius brain told me uselessly. The snake fanned out a cobra hood and proved me wrong. It opened its mouth as it wrapped itself around the tree, blocking my escape. Two stiletto fangs told me its real species.

 _Nope, it's a cobra._ In legends, snake eyes are always hypnotic. Whether or not that had any truth, it _was_ mesmerizing to look into those huge, dead golden eyes as its fangs came at me.

* * *

 **95th place: Sofia Ferrari- Stabbed by Valerie**

 **I was sorry to see these votes. I was really excited to do the bug eating thing since her last Arena was modern. I got the votes and I was like "goldarnit it I'm doing the bugs anyway" so her last POV was about bugs. At least we have another bug-eater that's not dead yet. Multiple people who voted for Sofia said there were two Ferraris and they picked one, which I thought was kind of funny.**

 **94th place: Luna Irika- Whipped by Madison**

 **I was sorry about Luna, too. She was new to me, so I was looking forward to getting to know her. I also liked that she didn't want to be a Career and actively decided not to instead of just being reluctant. People picked her because they wanted fewer Careers and picked a name they didn't know much about, generally. That's unfortunate.**

 **93rd place: Mia Barnes- Eaten by a rakshasa**

 **It just so happens I am 600 pages into The Mahabharata, the longest epic ever written and a huge chronicle of ancient Indian religion, history, and culture. I've been really looking forward to using that culture in the Arena, and now we have our first look! A rakshasa is a flesh-eating monster that takes lots of different forms. For this appearance, I used a statue as reference. People mostly voted for Mia because they didn't remember her. That's not her fault, though. I can't remember 100 people either.**

 **92nd place: Totem Sweeney- Eaten by a Naga**

 **This is sort of a double reference. A Naga is a giant snake, but there's another giant snake we all know and love. As I wrote this chapter, I realized Kipling was probably referencing a Naga all along, since he lived in India and all. That's kind of cool. As I write this I realize it's almost certain, since he literally named the snakes in Rikki-Tikki-Tava Nag and Nagaina. Totem pretty much just died because he got some random death votes and not enough life votes.**

 **Note on monsters: While I am super excited to reference cool Indian culture, I also have to keep in mind that Hinduism is an active religion. Rakshasas and Nagas are both just monsters as far as I know and not deities, so they should be good. If any Hindu readers tell me a character isn't supposed to be in something like this, I'll take them out. I actually have one Hindu regular follower. Sadly, when I asked, she said I shouldn't use Kali even though she thought it would be cool :( Kali IS super cool, but I wouldn't want to insult billions of people for a Hunger Games story. Luckily there are thousands of rakshasas (a rakshasa is a monster but 'rakshasa' also literally means 'monster' so it's also a category) and I will use those instead.**


	48. Spice Road

**This WOULD have been on yesterday but Fanfic was down.**

* * *

Mati Berlin- District Ten female

Austin was _not_ happy. He stood at the bottom of the tree I was precariously climbing, looking up at me with consternation and worry.

"You're going to break your neck," he called up.

"No I'm not," I said, dragging myself up one last branch. Right in the middle of the branch was exactly what I wanted. The big cluster of bright purple flowers was beautiful, but I had something else in mind. I deftly picked out the little red trio of hairs inside each one and cradled them so they wouldn't get scuffed as I scooted backwards down the trunk.

"You didn't even take any of the flowers," Austin said.

"I got something better," I said, opening my hand to reveal the threads. I walked over to the pot dangling over our campfire and tossed the threads in with our boiling rice. Almost right away, a spicy scent perfumed the camp.

"Wow, that smells great," Austin said, peering into the yellowing rice.

"Let's see if the boys find any meat," I said. Jay and the others were all out hoping to find a bird or something. Jay was the only one who knew how to use a spear, but maybe they intended to dogpile it and punch it to death.

"Hey, we got a bird!" Logan said, swaggering into camp with a big quail in his upraised arm.

"How'd you kill it?" Austin asked.

"Jay winged it and then we all piled onto it and kind of squished it," Logan said. Austin and I shared a knowing look.

"Woah, what did you do to the rice?" Jay asked.

"It's yellow," Zach said.

"It's saffron," I said proudly. "It's the most expensive spice in the world." I dumped the quail in after Austin dressed it. It was the tastiest spice, too.

* * *

Gizmo Torrens- District Three male

 _In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity._

It would be in my best interest if Whyte never found us. He and Floki were a pair. When the alliance broke, I didn't want people to be watching each others' backs and taking sides. I knew no one was looking out for me, and I didn't want anyone else to have that, either.

That said, we needed water. Going uphill would have meant finding the cleanest water eventually at the origin point, but going downhill made it certain we would find water quickly. We had purification tablets from the Bloodbath. It would taste gross, but that was it.

It was good to be in an alliance with Careers. I was the one everyone could overlook, and the security meant we could have a fire and make a real shelter. Floki made that almost entirely by himself, since he could practically lift a tree trunk one-handed. I did the thatching, since that required a defter hand. We heated some spicy food from the Bloodbath and sat around the fire.

I clapped my hands to my ears when a screech pierced the air. It was impossibly loud and sharp- so sharp I felt like my ears were bleeding. Miall almost fell into the river, and Priscilla screamed back reflexively.

"The heck was that?" Miall asked when we recovered. I got to my knees cautiously, getting ready to run if it was a mutt. The screech came again, closer this time, and I dropped to my knees with my hands over my head to cover my vitals. The air turned a shade colder, like the sun went behind the clouds.

 _That's not fair._ A bird the size of a single-engine plane was dropping from the sky like a torpedo, its wings folded for speed and so it would fit between the trees. Its talons were spread, and they were coming right at me. It was such a waste. All the thinking in the world couldn't do anything when a giant bird dropped on your head.

* * *

Alder Peacebrook- District Twelve male

All I got from the Bloodbath was a pocketknife. I wasn't going to do much damage with that. I was screwed in most fights anyway, though. All I could do was lay low and hope no one found me.

The good thing about being wimpy and malnourished was that I could climb a tree that strong, buff Careers couldn't. I was perched in a skinny, willowy palm tree far enough away from other branches that no one could get close to me.

I saw Ruby as she walked under me, looking for Tributes to hunt. _Keep looking around. Don't look up. Everyone is down there._

She looked up.

"Yo can't come up here," I said. "It's too skinny."

"Yep, it sure is," Ruby said. She bent over and picked up a rock.

"Hey," I said, and I scuttled backwards against the tree. I cursed my choice as I realized that my tree was too small for most people to climb, but it was also too skinny to give me any cover beyond visual. Ruby threw her rock at my head. I dodged, and it smacked into the leaves behind me.

She threw another rock, and that time she missed all on her own. I dodged her next missile, but the one after that hit me square in the face. My head snapped back, and I clung weakly to the branch. I barely saw Ruby picking up another rock, this one the size of a baseball.

The next thing I felt was my back hitting the ground. I was surprised I was still alive, and barely felt connected to my body. Through fuzzy vision, I saw Ruby appear over me and raise her sword.

* * *

Floki Grimm- District Four male

You didn't leave a man behind. That wasn't just a Viking thing. Every warrior culture all over the world knew that nothing was worth losing a brother. You would run back into battle, straight at a thousand men holding swords and into a volley of arrows, just to find him.

It was all my fault that Whyte wasn't with us. I should have been looking out for him at the Bloodbath. Every time I heard a cannon, I flinched. He could be anywhere. Any minute, he could be seconds from death. He needed me, and I wasn't there for him. I needed him, too.

The worst thing of all for someone like me was inaction. When there was a problem, I wanted to fix it. I wanted to get out there and tear the Arena apart until I found Whyte. I built our shelter in half an hour with all my nervous energy, and then our second shelter in thicker woods after the bird incident. I tried hunting and fishing and pacing, but nothing helped.

"So, we gonna talk about Gizmo or what?" Shui asked.

"He's dead. Nothing to do," Miall said.

"He was kind of schemey anyway. I think he wanted to kill us in our sleep," Priscilla said.

"We should try to find Whyte," I said. It wasn't my first time.

"Gizmo said we should stay still so he could find us more easily," Ember said.

"Well, look how smart he turned out to be," I said. "He probably didn't even want us to find Whyte. He was competition."

"That's a horrible thing to assume," Shui said.

"I don't care. I'm going," I said. I couldn't take it anymore. No one said anything as I stomped out of camp.

"Whyte!" I called. "Whyte!" I didn't care if anyone heard. If anyone gave me trouble, they had another think coming. And I wasn't scared, even if it was a risk. I only cared about Whyte.

"Floki!" After long minutes of searching, I heard his voice from far in the distance. I called him again, running toward his voice.

"Floki!" I sprinted between the trees and finally saw him as he burst from between some branches. He smiled back and shot toward me. Then a trident flew sideways out of the greenery and shot through his throat.

* * *

Arielle Ermin- District Four female

Whyte and Floki were making enough noise for an elephant. I had nothing against either of them, but the target was clear. If I went for Floki, I could hit him right in his eye and he'd still chase after me until he ran me down. Whyte was a Career, but he was no Floki. I threw my trident as soon as I got a clear shot.

Never in my life had I heard a shout like what came from Floki immediately after. I didn't think he was that close. He must have been running like lightning. I needed to get away _fast._ That wasn't a fight I wanted to pick.

I tore through the trees like a deer. There was no cowardice in not being stupid. I needed to get back to our armory anyway. I'd intended to pull my trident out and keep hunting, but Floki was way closer than I thought. Leaves and twigs crackled underfoot as I ran headlong.

I looked over my shoulder as I went and saw Floki looking after me. I didn't think he'd be able to catch me. He was just so much heavier. By the time he got up to speed, I'd be out of sight. I turned back and doubled down, not wanting to tempt fate.

A tiger slammed into me from behind, propelling me forward into a tree so hard I almost merged with the wood. Pinned in place, I looked down at myself. A massive two-handed axe was through my stomach and buried in the tree, protruding from my navel to my sternum and mounting me like a butterfly.

I didn't think it was possible to throw an axe that heavy that far. I estimated Whyte correctly, but I fatally underestimated Floki.

* * *

 **91st place: Gizmo Torrens- Snatched up by Garuda**

 **Usually Gizmo is a master schemer who gets a lot done. He got votes early this time, mostly from people who thought he'd be targeted in a Career alliance. Unfortunately he didn't get to do a ton of planning, but sometimes you straight up get snatched by a Garuda. Garuda, by the way, is a gigantic bird. He's more of one particular bird than a species as far as I can tell, since The Mahabharata refers to "Garuda" and not "a garuda". He brought down this cool heavenly tear from Heaven for mankind, so he's a cool bird. Sometimes he's depicted as humanoid and sometimes not. This one is just a bird.**

 **90th place: Alder Peacebrook- Stabbed by Ruby**

 **Alder got votes jut for being young and not that strong. He made it past the Bloodbath though, which is cool since he didn't have a following, this being his first appearance in this universe. I'm still cleaning up numbers, so people are dropping fast.**

 **89th place: Whyte Roberts- Trident by Arielle**

 **I didn't have Whyte get separated with the intent to kill him. I intended to have him find his way back and just separated him because it seemed realistic that not all the alliances would meet up perfectly. Then he got enough votes and I had to kill him. Whyte was sort of a half-Career, so I didn't know how he'd do. Vera was always more popular, so she's the Victor so far.**

 **88th place: Arielle Ermin- Killed to death by Floki**

 **I was hoping Arielle would go a long way, since I always felt like she got shafted a little in her first story. I didn't bump up her training score to make her SO COOL, though. Someone just had to be on top and it happened to be her. When she got enough votes at the same time as Whyte, it made sense to do this. There's no shame in getting killed by Floki "Terror of Terror Birds" Grimm.**

 **NOTE ON VOTING: You can send in votes after any chapter. Or between if you're impatient. Whenever you want, really. And you can change them as much as you want.**


	49. Bearer of the Skulls of Impurity

Jason Lenn- District One male

Before the Games started, I asked Valerie if she actually regretted being a Career. She said what she really regretted was leading me to do the same thing. She couldn't explain why it was worse for me than for her, but that's big sisters for you.

In the Arena, we both had to pretend we were just as eager as the first time. Valerie couldn't betray the fact that she regretted every second of this, and I couldn't betray the fact that I was terrified I would die again. We even had to shout taunts and add in flourishes when we killed people we had nothing against. We didn't care about the Capitol or honor anymore. We wanted to get home, even if that meant killing people. We may not have wanted to play the game anymore, but we were Careers. Killing was part of life.

"What do we do if one of the packs finds us?" I asked.

"Run," Valerie said. "Better keep up."

"What about at the end?" I asked.

She was quiet for a minute. "We're not both going to be there."

"No, we're not," I said. I took her hand. I didn't care if it made me look like a baby. I didn't know how many chances I had left.

Alinta Fintan- District Twelve female

"Cinderella dressed in yella went upstairs to kiss her fella. Made a mistake and kissed a snake. How much medicine did it take?"

Zinnia, Smudge and I sat in a triangle on crossed legs, smacking our hands together and then on our knees with every other beat. We went through again twice, trying to hit each others' hands and not miss. Smudge, in particular, had some trouble.

"In Ten, we do it like this," Zinnia said. We got back into position and clapped along. "Birdie, birdie in the sky, why'd you do that in my eye?-"

"Ew!" I broke in, and we lost our rhythm. Zinnia broke out laughing. Smudge joined in, even though she obviously didn't know what the line meant.

" _Anyway._ Birdie, birdie in the sky," Zinnia started again, and we went back to clapping. "Why'd you do that in my eye? Birdie, birdie in the sky, gee I'm glad that cows can't fly."

Smudge laughed first that time. "Cows don't fly!" she said.

"You must do the same ones as Smudge, since you're both from Twelve," Zinnia said.

Smudge shook her head. "In Seam, like this." We'd been clapping and smacking our knees alternately. Smudge did two beats on her knees and then held her arms out crossed.

"Down down baby, I can do karate," she started when we joined in, and she did a chopping motion at the end. "Down down baby, I can call my mommy." She held her thumb and finger out and put her hand to her ear. "Down down baby, I can move my body." She wiggled all over. We followed along as best we could.

"What's karate?" Zinnia asked.

"I don't know," Smudge said.

* * *

Zibby Spooley- District Nine female

It wasn't really necessary for me to make anything yet. We had a ton of supplies, mostly from Jasmine, Akari, Des, and Sammy. I hardly grabbed anything at the Bloodbath, but I didn't have to. We had enough food for at least a week, and that was just the prepared stuff. There were fruit trees all around. I was just tinkering because it was my nature.

"Almost done," Tatsuya said. He was Jayla were sitting with a tangle of cords across their knees. They'd been nice enough to help me out by twisting together a net. I was almost done with the mechanical part, so everything lined up perfectly.

"Thanks," I said. "Let's see what we got." I unwound some of the wire from the coil Akari grabbed and wove it through the net in a giant X pattern. I carefully tied the switch into place with another bit of cord, right onto the net. The 'switch' wasn't as complicated as the term made it sound. It was just a battery from the Bloodbath held inside one of the smallest food leftover food containers I could find. Des rammed a stick through the thin plastic for me, and on top of that I balanced a wadded-up ball of wire. I poked the wire into the container through a tiny hole I drilled in the plastic with a pocketknife and wound it around the battery. The wire ran through the net and the other side poked into the other side of the plastic container, above the stick. If I pulled the stick out, the wad of wire would spring out into an uncoiled position, since it was no longer held down by the stick. When it sprang out, it would touch both the battery and the other side of the wire at once, completing the circuit and electrifying the net.

"Whoever throws this, just be _really_ sure to jump when you pull the stick, so you're not grounded," I said. It wasn't necessary for me to make anything yet. When it _was_ necessary, I'd already be done.

* * *

Xegon Samuel- District Nine male

I got the willies being in this Arena. I'd snuck off into the temple during the Bloodbath, hoping I could find somewhere to hide and remain under the radar. I felt somehow guilty taking shelter in what was definitely a religious building. I didn't know what all the weird statues and icons meant, but I knew they were religious.

When I was little, my father was always paranoid about demons. Play with a ouija board? That's how you get demons. Say 'I'd give anything for' whatever, and he'd look at me all serious and say 'you wouldn't sell your soul to the devil'. Reading palms? That's how you get demons. That thing where you drop an egg into a glass and tell your fortune with the shape it makes? Witchcraft. The one time I snuck a childrens' book of scary stories into my bed and read it in the dead of the night, I spent a month thinking I'd gotten my room haunted.

I also felt a little guilty because the statues were super cool. As I moved through the rooms, one was a long hall with rows of statues on either side of the aisle. One was an elephant with a human body and four arms. He looked really welcoming, like he'd be like 'Hey. What's up? Want some rice or something?". One was a big fat dude with curling horns. One had three heads, eight arms, and was carrying a fireball in each hand.

One statue lurked in the corner, where I almost wouldn't have noticed it. It was obvious why they didn't want that one in the middle. The ten-foot statue was made of rich blue metal. It depicted a woman with unbelievably thick, waist-long black hair. In one hand, she held an upraised, bloodstained sword. Another hand was reaching toward me, stained red. Another hand held a man's head. The final hand held a bowl underneath the head, filling with blood. Her skirt was made of severed arms, and she wore a necklace of skulls. Her eyes were wide with ferocity and glee, and her shrieking mouth bared gleaming fangs. Under her foot was a statue of another victim. All around her on the floor, there were words written in an archaic script.

 _Greatly golden in all limbs. The Terrifying Sound. Drunk with Desire. With the Necklace of Men's Heads. Laughing Loudly. Fond of Sacrifice. Wearing Tiger's Skin. She Who is Black. She Who is Death. KALI_

I didn't want to be in that room anymore.

* * *

Viola Pierre- District Two female

There was no need to go out looking for trouble. I wasn't here by choice, and I just wanted to get home. Just lay low, stay out of trouble, eat, sleep, and live.

Sometimes trouble finds you. I snuck around an outside corner of the temple and smacked right into Calvin. I jumped back, whipping my mace out before my protectively. Calvin struck at me with a chakram and I moved the mace up to protect my chest and head.

I wasn't expected him to stab down into my leg. I screamed when the blade spiked into my flesh, but even as he pulled the knife out I was swinging back at him. My mace smashed into his left arm, shattering the bone in multiple places. Calvin pushed the half-buried blade back in and leaned down on it with all his weight, scraping my bone and pushing me backwards and off-balance. I shoved the mace into his chest and pushed him back. He bent over and rammed his shoulder into my chest, bending me backward. He slashed the point of the chakram across my stomach, ripping it open.

I stumbled backwards and almost fell. Blood was pouring out of my stomach and leg. Either wound could have been fatal, and I knew I wasn't leaving the fight. I drew my mace up for a huge strike at Calvin's head. When he stepped back on one foot to get out of range, I smashed the mace down on his closer foot. The motion toppled me forward, and Calvin stabbed me in the back when I landed. I knew I was going to die before that. I just wanted to pulverize his foot before I went.

* * *

 **Surprise! Only one death. I thought I'd do this now because no one would expect it and people would have heart attacks seeing their Tribute appear after multiple non-death POVs. That, and the votes were spread so evenly that hardly anyone had enough votes to die unless I killed people with only 2 death votes, and that felt mean.**

 **87th place: Viola Pierre- Stabbed by Calvin**

 **People wanted fewer Careers and lots picked Viola because they didn't know her as well. I'm sorry I didn't get to know her better. She seemed cool. She got Reaped, too, so she wasn't just another reluctant Career. She really WAS reluctant.**

 **My one Hindu reader said I was safe as long as I avoided the Big Three of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, plus their wives. She meant actual appearances and not statues, but all the same, I used mostly minor gods (they were literally listed as 'minor gods' on Wikipedia). The exceptions are Ganesh and Kali. I knew Ganesh was a pretty welcoming god and lots of people have statues of him so I thought it was okay. Kali herself is not appearing (or any of the other gods), but I thought it was okay if it was just a statue. It's not going to come to life or do anything. It's just a normal statue. A super cool badass statue, but just a representation and not the real Kali. The words around her are real names for her. If any Hindus say anything, I'll take it all out.**


	50. No Small Feat

**ATWOOD DRIFTWOOD-** Dayley Harrvis POV

That was the odds. If I lived through the Bloodbath, chances were another twelve-year-old was going to die. I would have felt guilty, but it was all chance.

 **SPARK MITCH-** Jayden Chadsey POV

Dang, that kid was heavy. I almost pulled a muscle dangling him overhead like Bane trying to look cool. I was sore for hours.

 **MINOS VELLA-** Jason Lenn POV

I didn't even know Minos. When the Bloodbath started, I didn't hesitate. I guess the Capitol did its job well.

 **ONYX SOUL-** Zinnia Fraser

 _Oh, good. That guy was so creepy._

 **CHROME CABELLO-** Jessie Cabello

 _I'm so sad, Chrome. I need you to cheer me up. But you're why I'm sad._

 **ERIDAN MEDEA-** Natalie Andrez

 _Bye, Felipe._

 **DANIEL MONDINS-** Sarla Mondins

I wanted my big brother back.

 **ORLAND CORRADO-** Mati Berlin

He was a cool guy.

 **CHARMING GOODWIN-** Ruby Lalonde

 _Ding, dong..._

 **AVA VAVE-** Ember Steiner

I wasn't particularly proud of that one. It was an opportunity kill, not really a planned one.

 **PHOENIX HEMLOCK-** Hemi Sergius

I heard he killed a nurse in his first Games. Good riddance, then!

 **HALON BAXTER-** Emmeline Blythe

He was immensely intelligent. I wished he'd lasted longer, even though he probably would have killed me eventually.

 **TROY CAHILL-** Zach Connouis

Troy was the only man who ever beat me in arm wrestling. That alone made him worthy of great mourning.

 **FLANNEL TWIST-** Tatiana Kokolo

That did not give me great confidence, as one of the other Tributes who blurred into the background and got forgotten.

 **DAREN GERARD-** Fable Anders

"I just yelled the first thing that came to mind," Ruby said. "I didn't mean to sound like an idiot."

 **ANTHRA MINE-** Smudge Kells

 _I hate tigers._

 **DEMARCUS KING-** Logan Quinn

My best good buddy. I'd find out who killed him, and when I got my hands on him...

 **SOFIA FERRARI-** Ferrari Benz

 _Aww, my name buddy! She was so pretty, too._

 **LUNA IRIKA-** Madison English

Just part of the job when you're a Career. No one likes it. Well, some of us do, but they make us look bad.

 **MIA BARNES-** Tariq Bluegrass

Another one gone. There were plenty left, though. I wasn't alone yet.

 **TOTEM SWEENEY-** Lyann Leavett

 _Hope you got eaten by a beautiful lady monster after seducing her, old buddy._

 **GIZMO TORRENS-** Emmeline Blythe

 _My biggest competition gone. The world couldn't stand up to that mind._

 **ALDER PEACEBROOK-** Nash Forger

Some Career just whacked a little kid. I hoped they were proud.

 **WHYTE ROBERTS-** Floki Grimm

 _Elska, daudi swit otla ek lita uu veor._

 **ARIELLE ERMIN-** Karyssa Evans

 _"What?!"_

 **CIERRA DALINE-** Dylan Brooke

Amphilia and I looked at each other. "Guess we don't have to look anymore."

* * *

Dylan Brooke- District Four male

We wanted to hunt, but we also had to secure our territory. The temple wasn't necessarily bisected into two separate halves. More likely they met up somewhere. We didn't want to bump into the Ones or have them sneak up on us. To prevent that, a reconnaissance trip was necessary.

The rooms in the temple were all lovely. Some were full of statues, and others had huge altars. The colors and patterns were different in each one, and in some, the smell of incense was in the air.

One of the room was not empty. Amphilia, Cierra, and I walked through the door and were greeted by a twenty-foot tiger. Not a tiger that was twenty feet long, though. It was more like fifteen feet long. It also had twenty feet.

"What is that thing?" Arielle asked.

"It's a tigerpede. Duh," Cierra said.

The 'tigerpede' Was curled up on one pair of its haunches, holding half a deer with ten of its feed and chewing on it. When it saw us, it dropped the deer and fell to all its feet, advancing on us curiously.

"Think we can take it?" Cierra asked.

"I don't think I want to," I said. We decided on a retreat. As we fled down an unexplored hall, I looked behind us and saw the tigerpede chasing, its endless legs rippling like waves. It seemed slower than a normal tiger, though. Maybe it tripped on its own legs.

It didn't take long to lose the tigerpede. When I stopped, Cierra and Amphilia weren't with me, though. As we ran, we must have taken different paths at one of the turns. Now we had to find each other and hope the Ones didn't run into us first.

* * *

Amphilia Fortune- District Four female

"Cierra? Dylan? Where'd you go? Aw, man..."

* * *

Cierra Daline- District Two female

The tigerpede roared behind me, and threw myself forward like a maniac. I rounded a corner and darted inside a random door, hoping to throw it off my trail. I ran headlong into the room, stopping when I saw its contents.

Dozens upon dozens of tigerpedes filled the room, intertwining and rolling around like a mating ball of snakes. They looked up at me, and half of them sprang.

* * *

 **86th place: Cierra Daline- Eaten by a mass of tigerpedes**

 **Tigerpedes aren't in Hindu mythology, at least not to my knowledge. Tinks suggested it and since I like tigers and pedes, I went for it. It seems there are consequences for staying in the nice homey temple. I've always liked Cierra, since she tries so hard and doesn't think she's all that. She's sensitive and unconfident, which makes her human to me. She didn't have many votes, but they're so evenly spread that it's hard to kill anyone. Hopefully the votes that were for her will now go more strongly to someone else.**


	51. Badava

**I'm still writing super fast to prune Tributes, but we're getting more manageable. I also goofed up some death recaps, particularly Tariq appearing even though he's dead. That was because I have multiple Tribute lists for various reasons (one for POV count, one just a total list, one to keep track of Career kills so they all get some) and I forgot to delete him from one. So it was his ghOOOoooOoOOoOost! Or just a goof. And here's Viola.**

* * *

 **VIOLA PIERRE-** Calvin Heidi (NOT HARRIS)

I didn't even go in looking for a fight. You just can't take any chances when you bump into someone.

* * *

Hemi Sergius- District Six female

Volvo and I didn't have to worry about Careers for a while. We were holed up somewhere they didn't want to look. All around us was beautiful, lush rainforest, and we were in a swamp. A gross, muddy, smelly swamp. The water was stagnant, which was why we always treated it twice with iodine. It tasted even grosser than it smelled before we drank it. For food we had half a dozen cans of cooked rice, which was a really weird texture and was really weird to eat cold. We were trying to figure out a way to cure the dozen or so frogs we'd caught.

"You know, I haven't done drugs in like ten years now," Volvo remarked.

"Kind of makes it all worth it, no?" I asked, gesturing at the filthy mud caked all over us.

"This is still better than how things were," Volvo said. He smiled. "Yeah, now life is normal."

At least every few hours, we had to leave the swamp to dry off. I knew enough about general anatomy to know we couldn't stay wet all the time. We'd ruin our feet. I'd seen pictures of soldiers who took off their shoes and the foot came with it, all the way to the bone. We took turns sneaking to dry land and airing ourselves out.

"A lot of cannons," Volvo had said when the first night's deaths rang out. It must have been twenty of them. They kept coming so long we lost count. A lot of dead kids out there. A lot more of them were scared and alone, racking up trauma they'd never get over. That was my business- ending trauma, not starting it. This was too much for me.

* * *

Akari Igneous- District Two female

Zibby couldn't be trusted. I didn't have anything against her for how effectively she killed people. I just knew how ambivalent she was about death and that when the time came, she'd kill us with that net as easily as she'd kill anyone else. I trusted most of my allies, and many of them weren't threats anyway. It was only Zibby I was keeping an eye on.

Shinju and Tatsuya were scouting around for extra fruit trees. If they didn't come back soon, I'd have to go look for them. A cluster of birds burst into the sky in the distance. I scanned the area, on the alert for whatever scared them. Just then, I heard Shinju's voice, coming from the same direction. As the ground started to shake and I wondered if an earthquake was starting, she appeared, hauling toward me at top speed.

" _Elephants!"_ she screamed, sprinting past me. I was about to run after her when Tatsuya appeared, running just as hard.

 _"_ _Elephants elephants elephants elephants!"_ he yelled as he whipped by. Naturally, I took off after them. We reached camp within ten seconds, and everyone else joined in.

"This way!" I yelled, veering off to the side. I wasn't dumb enough to run straight in front of what sounded like an entire herd of elephants. We either had to get out of the way or climb a _big_ tree, and I didn't see any with low enough branches.

The ground shook under me as the elephants thundered nearer. They came into view, kicking up dust and snapping trees in their path. They were black as night, and each had three heads. But that wasn't important. An elephant would squish you to death whether or not it was bedazzled.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Tatsuya pulling Shinju into the hollow under the roots of a huge tree. Jasmine and Des were both climbing another tree I never could have scaled. I didn't see my other allies in all the confusion.

Inevitably, the elephants caught up. There were too many to flank, so all I could do was try to run between them. I dodged between massive legs, inches away from being squished. One elephant noticed me and reared on its hind legs, smashing down on either side of me. It picked me up in its middle trunk and shook me half to death. I hadn't wanted to provoke them, but it was too late then. I stabbed it in the eye and slashed at its trunk. It trumpeted deafeningly right in my ear, then smashed me into a tree. I barely noticed as it smashed me again, against the ground this time. I was pretty dead at that point, but I think it also stomped me.

* * *

Daria Junius- District Eleven

I'd seen enough Hunger Games- okay, I'd seen _all_ the Hunger Games. In the Capitol, they were sort of a year-round thing. When the new one wasn't on yet, we watched reruns. I'd seen a lot of things, and when it came time for the Bloodbath, one thing came back to me. In the twenty-fourth Games, there was a girl who stayed right by the Cornucopia and took things when she needed them. She just snuck right in and hid in the trees when she wasn't stealing. She ended up in the top five, so it worked pretty well. When the gong sounded, I took a knife and a knapsack and slipped into the temple.

The Bloodbath took long enough that I had plenty of time to explore the temple. I knew my strengths. I had a great memory for patterns and schematics. As the Careers started to fill the halls, I was able to sneak ahead of them and keep snooping. By the time they were done hunting, I had a detailed mental map of half the temple. I just wouldn't mess with the other half. I'd sneak through the room and creep to the Cornucopia when it was empty. No need to be flashy. Better to be the exact opposite.

I felt terrible being excited about the Games. At least it wasn't quite as bad as it might be, since I was in them. It was my life at risk, not some random girl I was watching. It was still scary, but people from the Capitol never went through as much danger as this. It was sort of thrilling to be in charge of my own life- to have nothing but my own decisions between life and death. I felt like a mouse trying to stay alive in a world full of cats. I would have left right away if I had the chance, of course. I wouldn't stick around just for some stupid "adventure". But since I was stuck here, it wasn't evil to enjoy it a tiny bit. I was probably going to die, after all. At least I could have fun before I went.

* * *

Cottyn Thimble- District Eight female

It was dark. I didn't like the dark. Things that weren't scary were scary in the dark, and things that were scary were scarier.

A bird called out in the darkness. It was a thin, reedy noise, like a crying child. It called again and again, like it was crying for its mother. Frogs lurked in the leaves, croaking and chirping. A monkey howled. The sound echoed, starting out deep and growing deeper with each faint repetition. In the grass below me, countless insects buzzed and clicked. The rainforest was alive around me, alive with things that lived and moved and hunted at night.

A light glowed in the distance. I crouched deeper into the roots I was hiding in and peered out at it. Surely it was another Tribute, and almost certainly a Career if it was confident enough to use a lantern. Or a torch, maybe- the light was flickering. It was coming closer, and I hid myself between the leaves.

It was a fire, but no one was holding it. The fire floated in the air, moving fluidly across the forest. Nothing was there for fuel, but still the fire burned. On top of the fire, there was a horse head. As in, most of the fire was shaped like a normal fireball and the flames dispersed into the air, but the top of the flame was a horse's head. The head's eyes were open, staring ahead. The fire floated in front of me and then stopped. The horse head looked at me for a minute, the trees behind it shimmering in its flames. Then it went on its way, moving busily through the jungle like it had somewhere to be and couldn't waste any more time gawking at me.

 _Cool, fire horse. That is definitely not real._

When the horse left, I looked at the spot where he was and saw one of the boys from Four looking back at me.

"Do you see that?" I asked, pointing at the leaving horse head fire.

"Yeah, I see it," he said.

"Oh, good. I thought I was going insane," I said.

"Nope, it's real," he said. Then he threw his knife at me.

* * *

 **85th place: Akari Igneous- stomped by an Airavatha**

 **Akari got picked because people wanted to take someone from Des' alliance and she had the least devoted fanbase, I suspect because she's very efficient and not such a large personality. She's always dependable and always performs well, but she doesn't seem to have audience appeal as much as some others. So she got Loki'd by a three-headed elephant. Airavatha is actually one particular three-headed elephant, but I used a whole mess of them. He's not really a god as far as I can tell, but he's Indra's mount, so that's pretty cool.**

 **84th place: Cottyn Thimble**

 **I think we all know why Cottyn got picked. She just got overlooked. Her overactive imagination made it easy for me to write, though. Not gonna lie, if I saw a fire horse I would assume I somehow had an autistic psychotic break, even though that's not a thing. It really was a fire horse, though. A Badava, to be exact. He's a cool dude, though. He just minds his own business doing fire horse things. Dylan A, however, does not.**


	52. Smoke Signals

**I made the list of deaths and forgot that I hadn't published Cierra's death yet! Anticlimactic is right LOL**

* * *

Kerry Selmosa- District Five male

The Careers knew that no one was dumb enough to stay in the temple. What they didn't know is that someone very much was dumb enough to stay _on_ the temple.

It wasn't even hard to get up. The temple was all slanty and covered in huge statues and gables. I just grabbed a rope and a tarp at the Bloodbath and went for it. I didn't even have to use the rope. After I got past the couple feet of smooth wall at the bottom, it was lie walking up a more steep than normal hill.

The temple was so big that there was plenty of room to roam around where I still couldn't be seen from the ground. As long as I stayed in the low area between the high decorative border, I as invisible. I draped my tarp between two pillars and then I had a shelter in case it rained. Some of the taller trees grew close enough to the edge of the roof that I could reach them, giving me a supply of kiwis and cherries. Rainwater and dew collected in sunken areas of the roof. Until I got bored, I had everything I needed.

Sometimes I peeked over the side of the temple and looked down at the Arena below. Occasionally I saw one Career or another going out to hunt or coming back in. It made me uneasy when I saw them go out to hunt and while they were still out, a cannon went off.

 _Hey, what's that?_ On the other side of the temple, there was a tower just like mine. And if my eyes were right, someone was on it. Before I could think better of it, I waved. The figure ducked, then slowly reappeared.

 _Aha!_ I thought. I took down my tarp and picked a handful of cherries, smearing their juice on it. I dangled the tarp over the edge of the tower.

 _KERRY,_ I'd written on it. The figure disappeared again and then popped up with a yellow rain poncho.

 _VESTER_ was smeared on it with purple juice.

I pulled my tarp back in, blotted the juice off with some leaves, and wrote again. _WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP HERE?_

 _I THOUGHT NO ONE WOULD LOOK,_ Vester replied.

 _THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT!_

* * *

Amphilia Fortune- District Four female

I was wedged into a corner behind a stone outcropping in the middle of the temple exterior, peering around the corner. For a long time I'd been watching, waiting for someone to go out. Not just any someone, either. I was waiting for Jayden.

 _We should wait for Jayden to leave,_ Dylan had said. _She's the heaviest hitter. She's the one I don't want to fight in close quarters._ So I waited all day long for Jayden to finally take a turn at hunting. It was early evening when she finally went. She would probably be back not long after dark, so we had to move quick.

I crept back to our side of the temple and thumped on the wall. A few minutes later, my allies joined me, materializing quietly ou

t of the dusk. Together, we slipped into the Bloodbath room and into the other side of the temple, stepping over the dark ring that marked Spark's head. The silence was deafening as we tiptoed down the halls, straining our eyes to see in the failing light. We came to a square room with doors on three sides. Dylan sniffed the air and pointed right. I nodded. There was a faint but distinct scent of spices in that direction. Gloria cut across the room and through the door first.

"Spy!" someone screamed. Gloria was pulled into the room violently, and the rest of us charged in after her.

* * *

Gloria Martez- District One female

My alliance was right behind me. There was no use lingering in the back like a coward. There was going to be danger if you were a Career. I faced it head-on.

"Spy!"

The second I got into the doorway, Ruby screamed in my ear and grabbed me by my shirt. She threw me diagonally back into the wall, and I hit it with the back of my head and ribs. I slid down and she threw herself on me, pushing me the rest of the way to the floor and pressing her sword against my throat.

The rest of my alliance poured into the room, weapons raised. Ruby ducked behind me and dragged me into a half-raised position. She backed away with me held protectively in front of her as my allies fanned around her.

"Stay back," Ruby warned.

"You're not gonna let her go," Karyssa said.

Ruby's eyes darted from one enemy to another, and she adjusted her position. She glanced at Madison, who was standing five feet from the far door. Madison looked around the room, whip in hand. She bolted out the door. Ruby slit my throat.

There are a lot of students in the Academy. We all know there can only be two volunteers. All of us are afraid of failing. Once we get picked, there are a lot of volunteers. There's only one winner. We all know there are a lot of people who expect to win the Games, and a lot of people who don't make it. For every winner, there's almost two dozen others who fall short.

* * *

Ruby Lalonde- District One female

"Think Jayden will get anyone?" Madison asked.

"She probably won't come back until she does," I said.

"Cave woman bring home food or cave woman keep looking," Madison said in a mockingly deep voice. She probably talked trash about me too when I wasn't around, but that was all right. Actually, I _knew_ she talked trash about me, since she did it right to my face. She wasn't a sneaky snarker. She snarked right at you, which was respectable.

I welcomed a lull in the conversation. Madison wasn't a motormouth or anything. She just liked to chat now and then. I was just really not a talker. I moved over by the door, carrying my sword easily at my side. Madison mirrored me, moving toward the other door. We liked to be mindful of any entry point for enemies, especially when we were down two members- Jayden was out, and Fable was looking around the temple and trying to flush out any hiders. I peeked out periodically, feeling like a prison guard.

When someone came through the door, I thought it was Fable. _That's too short to be Fable._

"Spy!" I yelled, grabbing the intruder and throwing her against the ground. When Gloria's allies poured in, I knew it was a raid. I pulled Gloria in front of me as a hostage, backing away from her allies.

"Stay back," I said.

"You're not gonna let her go," Karyssa said.

I glanced at them, then at Madison. Everything depended on what she did. She was standing five feet from the far door, holding her whip. I saw the calculations run through her head. _There's three of them. We're allies, but there's nothing I can do. I can go in, or I can go through that door._

Madison bolted out the door. I cut Gloria's throat and shoved her at Dylan, who was the closest to me. I ran toward Karyssa, who was blocking my way to the door Madison ran out of. As she raised her sword, I shot out a hand and flat-palmed her nose. She kicked out a foot and tripped me as I ran by. I rolled aside, dodging her downward sword strike, and jumped to my feet as the three of them surrounded me.

I swung out at Karyssa in a wide arc. I knew she would dodge a killing blow, but her teary eyes affected her depth perception enough that she didn't jump back far enough to avoid a slash across her front. I dodged Amphilia's strike as Karyssa pressed at the non-lethal but still significant wound. As I dodged, Dylan stabbed me in the back with a trident.

"In the back?" Amphilia asked disapprovingly. As her head was turned, I struck at it. She whipped up an arm and I scored a deep wound in her arm.

"I wasn't dead yet," I said, and then fell to my knees. I swiped at Amphilia's knees weakly, and she stepped on the blade. I was still trying to pull it out when I died.

* * *

 **83rd place: Gloria Martez- Throat cut by Ruby**

 **Finally someone actually had a lot of votes. Gloria had a net of four death votes, mostly from people who wanted to thin the Careers. I'm glad she at least made it a while, since she was young but wasn't puffed-up or a wonderkid. In her original story she was in a special Games for younger children, so she really wasn't overconfident then. She was a competent Career who died just because sometimes Careers die.**

 **82nd place: Ruby Lalonde- Killed by Karyssa, Dylan, and Amphilia**

 **Ruby struggled for life since the Bloodbath. She was one of the people I saved by increasing the number of death votes I required to kill people in the Bloodbath. She got shafted the first time around since it was Survivor and Charming prudently targeted her, so I was hoping she could show her real potential here. She did everything right in that battle, but you just can't fight three people at once. If I couldn't have her last a long time, I made sure her one fight was worthy of her.**

 **Okay so it was actually fruit juice signals.**

 **When ya make a detailed plan to raid the other pack and get superior numbers and ya end up both losing a member so ya both still even...**


	53. Ramayana

Zach Connouis- District Eleven male

"Wish we had some girls in the alliance," Logan said at we shot the breeze around a late-night fire.

"That would be nice," Austin said.

"Do you even know what to do with a girl?" Logan asked.

"Jay knows what to do with a girl," I said, and I looked sideways at him. "Remember those two blondes-"

" _No,"_ Jay said quickly, poking suddenly at the fire with a stick.

"You never mentioned two blondes," Austin said innocently. "What was that?"

"We just... hung out," Jay said.

"Lots of stuff hung out," I said. Logan snickered.

"It's not for mixed company," Jay pleaded.

"It's not mixed company here," Logan said. "That's what we're complaining about."

"We better get to bed. We need our rest," Jay said, and he doused the fire. Logan and Patrick groaned and ribbed him while we all got ready.

Later, when most of us were asleep, Jay turned over to me. "Yeah, I remember them," he said with a wistful smile.

It was what my grandmother would have called 'the witching hour' when I woke up. Normally I slept heavily and through the night, but the world's oldest reason had kicked in. Even though everyone was asleep, I snuck out a short distance from camp. It was just the way things were done.

Leaves crunched softly underfoot as I trekked back to camp. As I approached, I could barely see someone standing upright in the dim light. _Must be Jay,_ I thought of the boy standing over Austin. _He's the only one that skinny. Why's he up? Wait a minute. When did Jay grow boobs?_

I didn't think before I started running. Moonlight reflected off an axe as the girl raised her weapon to smash it down on Austin. There wasn't time to make a plan. I never was the planning teammate anyway. My job wasn't to design strategies or slip between a line of opponents. I was the big buff guy who tackled people. As I sailed through the air and the girl turned toward me, I knew I was only switching out one fatality for another. It was worth everything. That's what you do for your teammates.

* * *

Eren Lindell- District Four female

A long time ago, I used to sing. I used to go out on the waves with my friends and lie on my back facing the sky, and I used to sing. The world seemed so much more beautiful and carefree. There were two eras in every Career's life- the years they were going to volunteer, and the year or years after the volunteered. As long as I was training, the Games were a far-off future that represented nothing but successfully earning a volunteer slot. When I got to the Arena, I saw all the romantic fairy tales they told us were just that.

The Games were a war zone. You couldn't think about appearances or fighting clean. All I cared about was getting home. The Games had ceased to be their own end and had become a means to getting me home. Instead of humming to myself and thinking about what kind of life the Games could bring me, I crept through the night and thought about anything that could make my life last five minutes longer. If that meant killing an entire alliance before they had a chance to fight back, so be it.

I raised my axe over the sleeping boy. It felt almost merciful this way. He would only know he was dead because of an unfinished dream. Then I heard the heavy footsteps and saw his ally coming at me from the side. He was going too fast to stop when I turned toward him, axe in front of me. He rammed into me, knocking me flat on my back and impaling himself on the axe. His full weight slumped onto me, nearly pinning me.

The boy grunted when the axe hit him, and despite my efforts, air squeaked out of me when his full weight fell across me. There was a flurry of motion as his allies awoke and jumped up. I wiggled out from under the boy and got to my knees to flee, but one of his allies jumped me from behind, holding me until another one could join him. They flipped me over, both holding down one of my arms.

Jay appeared over us, and in the light of his lantern I could see my captors were Patrick and Logan. Jay swung the light over and illuminated Zach's prone body.

"She killed him," Logan said, and he looked at me venomously.

Austin looked at the scene and connected the dots. "She was trying to kill me. Zach saved me."

"Of course he did," Jay said, and he didn't hide that he was crying.

"What are we going to do to her?" Austin asked. I pushed against Patrick and Logan, even though I knew it was useless. The song was over.

"We should make it hurt," Logan spat.

"It won't bring him back," Jay said quietly, and he looked at Austin. "It never brings anyone back."

"We have to do it," Patrick said.

"Zach was your best friend. You should be the one," Logan said.

Jay gave the lantern to Austin and raised his sword over my heart with both hands. "I hope Zach gets everything he deserves," he said before he pushed it down. "And I hope you do, too."

* * *

Martha Lewis- District Eight female

The patch of ferns was thick, and the fronds were dark green. They hid me from the outside world. They were my home now- my protection against the hunters and monsters in the Arena.

Back home, I worried about a lot of things. I worried about school, and whether my friends really liked me, and whether a boy ever would. I worried about making my parents proud and what my life would be like in a District without many opportunities.

All that was gone now. Everything was simplified to a primitiveness so stark I felt little higher than the animals around me. My worries centered around nothing but my body- either putting fuel into it or preventing others from damaging it. I had never so fully understood that I was a mind piloting a fragile and transient body. With all my energy going toward preserving that body, thoughts about my mind and soul were pushed to the back.

A lizard scuttled by, and without a thought, I shot out a hand and grabbed it. I cupped a hand around its head as it wriggled and twisted until it fell still. I bit into its raw flesh and felt bones crunch in my mouth and juices run across my tongue. I felt a sliver of guilt when I thought about killing it. It was trying to stay alive, just like me.

I checked on the fabric only barely wrapped around myself. Earlier, I'd smeared mud on my hands and streaked the fabric with mud, leaving it speckled and mottled like camouflage. The Arena was so warm I almost wanted to abandon it, but I clung to it out of fear of the exposure bare skin would bring, even if the fabric was so light it wouldn't stop any weapons. I tore a single strip from the end, twisting it and knotting both ends until I had a weapon of my own.

Someone looking in would have thought I was savage. I thought of a book I'd read long ago, where kids my age went feral after just a few weeks. No one who wasn't here could understand. It wasn't that I'd lost those higher thoughts. I just couldn't afford them. We all have priorities. When you meet one, there's room for another. Here, there was only the stark line between life and death. Everything centered around maintaining life. Nothing else mattered.

* * *

Hindi Kabyle- District Three female

I felt connected to the Arena. It was part of my culture- the culture I never got to have. This was what the Capitol wanted to hide from us. I could see why. If we knew what normal people were capable of and what magnificent things we could make, they wouldn't be able to hold us back.

It was stupid to stay in the temple, but I couldn't help it. I had to know more. The chances against me winning were astronomical anyway. It was worth the risk to see more of this ancient world.

Every statue I passed told a story. Every spire and every column meant something. The temple I stood in was built out of stories and legends and lessons. I wished I could experience them all. I bitterly wished my parents could have taught me their language, since the curled lettering in most of the temple was beautiful but foreign. Thankfully, some of the murals needed no explanation.

I stopped in front of one of the painted walls and listened to the story. The close end of the wall showed a regally decorated man standing next to a beautiful woman, obviously his wife. In the next "panel", loosely separated by a row of decorative shapes, there was a dark castle and a monstrous figure inside. The man had ten heads and twenty arms fanning around him. He was signaling a horde of monsters, which were spreading into the countryside and harassing the people.

The next panel showed the princely man leaving the woman and leading an attack against the monsters. They beat them back all the way to the castle, but that same panel showed the ten-headed man flying over the battlefield in a chariot pulled by ten fanged mules. The next panel showed him carrying the woman away in his chariot as she vainly tried to escape.

After that, the panels grew more concentrated. One showed a wounded vulture talking to the prince. The prince was then shown surrounded by monkeys and speaking to one wearing a crown. The monkeys must have decided to help, since the next panel showed them all arriving at the ten-headed man's castle, with monsters coming out to meet them and the woman peeking out from a tower.

The final panel was humongous, and wasn't divided into scenes so much as it showed everything at once. There were monkeys and monsters fighting, fallen soldiers on either side lying on the ground, and in the middle, the prince stabbing the ten-headed man through the heart. The final panel showed the man and woman embracing in the center of a city dotted thickly with multicolored lights.

 _I'll always have this._ Whether I lived or died, I would always have this moment. I didn't know every detail of the story, having only a painting to go off of, but I understood the essence. I was connected to someone who, millennia ago, first told that story, and someone else who first listened to it. All these years later, it still remained.

* * *

 **81st place: Zach Connouis- Axed by Eren**

 **I was sad about this one. I always liked Zach. He was so earnest and just a cool dude without being exceptional in any real way. He seemed like an awesome friend, and he was, right up to the end. It amuses me how he keeps coming back even though he's so much the "best friend" character that even he knows it. Sadly, he had three death votes, since they're finally starting to add up so the deaths are clearer. RIP to a cool dude.**

 **80th place: Eren Lindell- Stabbed by Jay**

 **I often get surprised during voting Games, but this one has been an absolute trip. I never have any idea who's going next. Votes go from +3 to -3 in one chapter and back in the next. People I thought were popular are going like flies, and people I thought would die early are going strong. I didn't expect it to be Eren. I guess it's just the Career thing again. Eren was always one of the more aesthetic-focused Careers. She had a lot of soul. Honestly, she should have been an artist instead of a volunteer.**

 **I am excited I got an opportunity to share one of the cooler stories I read in the Mahabharata. The story Hindi read was the legend of Rama and the demon king Ravana. Sometimes I spend literally fifty pages reading a list of different rivers and the blessings you get when you bathe in each one, and sometimes I get an awesome story about an army of monkeys rescuing a kidnapped princess. That was a genuine page-turner. It really got me. Those monkeys were just so brave. That princess wasn't even their princess. She wasn't even a MONKEY, and they just FOUGHT for her, and many of them DIED! They were such noble monkeys. SPOILER in the version I read, a god resurrected the slain monkeys. Happiest ending ever. They deserved it.**


	54. To No One's Surprise

Fable Anders- District One female

Someone yelled something from somewhere far away in the temple. When I heard it, I froze and pricked up my ears. Until I heard something else, I couldn't react. I didn't even know exactly where the sound was coming from.

A cannon went off. I started walking in the vague direction the sound came from, but I didn't hurry. One cannon probably meant my allies found someone and killed them. It might possibly mean, however, that they'd encountered the other Career pack. _In that case, I should get back fast._

Another cannon sounded almost a minute later. I stopped dead. Two cannons that far apart could mean my allies found a pair and had to run one down. _Or_ it could mean a full-on battle between the two packs. If it was two cannons, I couldn't run in. Two cannons meant three possibilities. If two of the other pack had died, it didn't matter when I got there, since they didn't need me. If two of my pack had died, there was nothing I could do and I would be running toward my own death. If it was one of each, I couldn't take the risk that they weren't significantly stronger than what was left of my alliance. I had to cut and run.

The moonlight cast long shadows as I ran through the empty rooms. The statues with their sprawled arms and striking swords looked like enemies and spooked me as I ran past them. I wished there would be another cannon, just so I would know the others were somewhere else. I wasn't afraid of a fight, but I was afraid of being hunted down and slaughtered by four Careers. I wondered which of my allies was still alive and whether we would meet, and if the alliance was still on if we did.

I reached the end of the temple and headed out. The rainforest was dark and stretched on forever, and that was where I needed to go. When the Anthem came, I could see what the numbers were. If my alliance still held the temple, I could go back in and rejoin them after a modicum of harassment over my failure to help. If the other pack came out on top, the temple wasn't my territory anymore.

As I ran through the door, the moonlight glittered off a blade as it flashed toward me from beside the door. I was halfway out when Karyssa's sword hit me across the neck and chest, hard enough to knock me back. She pushed the blade in deeper diagonally, pushing me all the way to the ground. They must have been the ones to raid us. They thought of everything- even the avenues of escape.

* * *

Tatsuya Hikaru- District Three male

No one expected Akari to be the first to go. I guess there's no predicting an elephant stampede. We all thought either she would win or Des would. It was all on Des now.

 _Speaking of Des..._ I couldn't deny my nature. We all had our talents, and mine was romance. It just so happened Des was single. It just so happened we had another eligible young lady in our alliance...

"Des is lucky. This light looks great on her skin," I said as I sat next to Jayla, husking some coconuts.

"Huh, I guess I didn't notice," Jayla said. She looked over at Des, who was poking curiously at Zibby's net. "Yeah, it _does_ make her look all cool and shiny."

"It must have been really hard for her to lose Electra. They were so close," I said.

"Where they a couple or what? I didn't want to pry," Jayla asked.

"I'm not really sure either. They've allied twice before this. The first time, Electra died of dehydration. When she couldn't walk any more, Des carried her."

"TI wouldn't do that for anyone but my girlfriend," Jayla said. "Sounds like a couple to me."

"But now she's all alone," I said.

"I know what that feels like. Sucks," Jayla said.

"Sounds like maybe you both need a friend," I said.

"You trying to set us up or something?" Jayla asked, looking sideways at me.

"What can I say? I'm a romantic," I said.

"I'm probably not even her type," Jayla said.

"Yeah. She hates smart girls from Three," I said. "What about you? You hate Amazons from Seven?"

"I never tried one," Jayla said. "Might be worth a go."

* * *

Citlali Kenyi- District Nine female

Things were going all right. About thirty people had already died, and I was still alive. I was neatly holed up between two big rocks with a tiny hollow between them. I had a cherry tree close by and water from the flowers with the deep basins.

So far, no one had come after me. I would have liked to think it was because I was so tough, but I knew the real reason. No one remembered I was alive, or even that I was ever here. Not that that was something to be sad about. I didn't care why I was alive- only that I was alive.

Night in the jungle was lovely and peaceful. I liked the chirping bugs and the cooler air. A bat flew by once, and I heard its papery wings beating the air. I lay on my stomach between the rocks and peeked out at the branches swaying in the breeze.

An artificial tinkling sound caught my ear. The parachute settled right in front of my rock, the fabric slowly settling to the grass. I hooked it into my tiny cave and opened the package. Inside, there was one hard candy and a letter.

 _Dear Citlali,_

 _No one is sending much money, but I just wanted to see how you were doing, and I'm not supposed to send a note unless I send an actual gift. So, how is the Arena? It looks very pretty, but also a little scary! Did you see that weird horse thing? Are those monkeys keeping you up? Are you getting enough to eat? Make sure you eat more than just fruit, or you might rot your teeth! And be careful not to drink gross water. I hear if you do that, it all comes out the other end! Yuck!_

 _Nassor and I hope you stay safe and come home. Don't get in any fights and just keep hidden. There are a lot of people left, but only one you. If you win, what is your talent going to be? You should do something really cool, like blown glass. Will you make me a blown glass something?_

 _Anyway, I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you I miss you. I thought you might have thought everyone forgot about you, but we have not!_

 _Love,_

 _Chimera_

* * *

Coral Tide- District Four female

Soon, I would find the Tribute I was tracking. Whoever it was, they weren't doing a good job of staying hidden. That meant they were either stupid or didn't need to be scared. Of course I had to assume the latter, but deep down, I didn't think a Career was dumb enough to leave a trail even if they didn't _have_ to be cautious. That just wasn't the way we rolled.

Finally, I caught a glimpse of my quarry. She was a girl, but I couldn't tell much more than that in the darkness. I followed her through the forest, watching for any signs of allies that might come running if I attacked. The girl stopped by a creek. As she bent over the water to fill her bottle, I sensed my moment. She was off-balance, and the sounds of the creek would cover my movements.

I snuck up catlike behind the girl and stuck my knife into her back. The Academy told us that honor was important, but living was the priority. My knife went through her shirt and clanged sharply off something metal, jarring my hand so shockingly my hand almost slipped down onto the blade. The girl gasped and stood straight. I yanked back the knife to stab at her head, but almost dropped it with the sudden pain when she stomped my instep without turning around. Then she whirled around as she brought her arm up, backhanding me across the face.

"What was that?" the girl yelled, and I saw it was Tuesday. She aimed a fist at my face, and I slashed my knife out at it. She drew her arm sideways and the knife scored a cut down her arm instead. Tuesday brought her knee up and I dodged backwards, expecting a hit to the pelvis. Instead she brought it down diagonally, right at my knee. My leg popped sideways and I almost fell. I shifted my weight to my other leg and shoved the knife at Tuesday's chest, knowing she'd put out her hand to defend herself. She did, and she blade stuck deep into her hand. She squealed, but even as she did, she leaned forward and hooked her elbow around my outstretched arm. She brought her knee up as she pushed my arm down. My arm snapped at a crooked angle with the sound of a twig broken underfoot.

If I didn't change something fast, she was going to win. I launched myself into her, bringing us both to the ground but leaving me on top. I grabbed my knife with my good hand and slashed at her throat. She bucked her hips, bringing me back far enough that the knife missed. I stabbed at her eye. The blade went in slightly, but the ridge of her eyebrow prevented it from completely skewering it. Tuesday screamed and shot both hands toward my neck. She jerked her head sideways, scoring a cut down her own cheek to add to the blood and fluid covering half her face. I pulled back the knife to stab again, knowing she'd weaken and lose her grip on my throat, but she hooked her leg around mine and flipped herself on top of me. She shifted all her weight to her front, squeezing the air from my throat and pressing the soft tissue on my neck until I gagged.

My vision started to blur, and I almost panicked as I realized she was crushing the blood vessels as well as the windpipe. I stabbed wildly at her upper arm, but the leverage was bad enough that I couldn't make anything more than a nasty cut. Her fingers dug into my skin and I felt cartilage break as my throat started to collapse. The edges of my vision cut out, and a weightlessness came over me. It felt like I was fainting, but I knew it was so much worse.

* * *

 **...More Careers died!**

 **79th place: Fable Anders- Stabbed by Karyssa**

 **After killing Ruby, the remaining Careers scattered, one covering each exit. Unluckily for Fable, she happened to be farther inside the temple. Fable did really well her first time. This time, she fell to the Career curse. That's unfortunate, since she had a lot to do still. But then, so does everyone.**

 **78th place: Coral Tide- Strangled by Tuesday**

 **I keep a list of Careers and try to make sure to alternate kills. When it came time to kill Coral, I noticed Tuesday had no kills. I hadn't necessarily intended to give her one, since she's not really a hunter, but then I remembered something interesting. Tuesday prefers flashy moves, but she's also trained in Krav Maga. Coral happened to use close range weapons, and this seemed like a cool way to go about it. Coral's POV is longer than the others, but that often happens in a death POV, so not exactly a good thing. Coral was new, so people probably picked on her more. Someone didn't like her name, and I was like 'but it's coral, like ocean coral?" Anyway, they picked her. Nothing I can do this time. I probably wouldn't have picked her to win, but she would have lasted longer than this.**


	55. Kicking and Screaming

**AKARI IGNEOUS-** Tatsuya Hikaru

 _She could have killed us all if she'd wanted to._

 **COTTYN THIMBLE-** Martha Lewis

That was what happened to people like us. Eights hardly ever won.

 **GLORIA MARTEZ-** Karyssa Evans

She was almost like our mascot. She held her own, though. That girl was a firecracker.

 **RUBY LALONDE-** Madison English

Yep. It would have been suicide to stay. It was going to be hard enough for me to just stay away from them.

 **FABLE ANDERS-** Jayden Chadsey

They got us. From the start, it was a question of which alliance would come out on top. Madison must have gotten away, but we were through now. They were the top dogs.

 **ZACH CONNOUIS-** Jay Dallas

Thirteen years we'd known each other. We'd been best friends longer than some Tributes had been alive. Over and over we got to see each other again, and over and over we lost each other.

 **EREN LINDELL-** Amphilia Fortune

Another Four. I didn't buy into the "District before reason" mentality, but it was hard to see a sister go.

 **CORAL TIDE-** Marley Xander

 _Dang, I can't even remember everyone from my own District. Was she cool? I think she was cool._

* * *

Aliara Bavier- District Twelve female

Every one of us said we were willing to do anything to win. For most of us, that wasn't really the truth. Most of us wouldn't kill a little kid. Even if we would, there was still something we wouldn't do. Even evil people didn't think they were evil. There was something they wouldn't do, and they considered that the baseline of 'evil'.

Someone walked under the tree I was hidden in. My first impulse, instead of hiding, was to climb down and talked to them. I was by nature a people person, and I dearly wished I had an ally. I wondered who the Tribute beneath me was and whether they had any allies. I felt a surge of jealousy over the imagined alliance of the Tribute, and I wished ill on him or her from my perch. _That's not very nice,_ I reminded myself. Just because they had something I wanted, that didn't make them evil. It didn't stop the resentment, though.

The Tribute soon vanished, swallowed up by the early morning darkness in the trees. I was left alone in my perch, looking out at nothing. I scurried higher in the tree and reached out awkwardly to pick a mango. Mangoes were all I'd had to eat since the Games began. They started out exotic and tasty, but I was coming to dread the sharp, acidic flavor of the fruit. I licked my fingers off carefully after every fruit, since I didn't want to end up like the people in the candyland Arena. Even after my ritual, my fingers still felt tacky on the branch beneath me. When I licked them after the latest mango, bits of grit and dirt stuck to my teeth.

It was hard to stay balanced in a tree. If I wasn't super careful, I could fall out in my sleep and die before I even knew I killed myself. I had to wedge myself in between two branches and wedge in all my limbs as best I could so friction would keep me in even when I was asleep. I didn't know how much longer I could hold out. I was going stir-crazy with boredom and loneliness. Sooner or later, I was going to climb down and try to find someone to talk to. I just had to make sure I didn't find something with other ideas than talking.

* * *

Marley Xander- District Four female

"The lone Career troops intrepidly through the forest, ready for any sign of trouble," I whispered to myself. It had been a long time since I'd had someone to talk to. I was not one of those people who can sit all day and read quietly. There are introverts and there are extroverts, and I was an extrovert. If I didn't have someone to talk to, I'd talk to myself.

"A multicolored bird swoops by, no doubt looking for a mate." I switched to a nature show narration. "But it is too late? Time is of the essence. The females will not be patient." I had no idea if the bird in question was looking for a mate, or if it was a male. That was unimportant.

I pushed aside some ferns aside with the shaft of my spear. "Marley clears the path, blazing through like wildfire," I noted. I jumped ahead, bursting through the ferns. As I did, I hummed a short snatch of improvised theme music.

"Marley! Career supreme! Marley! Living the dream!" I stage-whisper sang to myself.

 _Wonder what Ava is up to._ Until then, I had been secure in the knowledge that out of all the action surely taking place in the Arena, no one would be watching me. Ava, however, didn't care about everyone in the Arena. She cared about her mentees... and me.

"Uh... you watching this, Ava?" I asked the sky. "Oh well. I don't care. I'm funky and I know it." I broke out into a little dance. Life is short, eventually for Careers. You have to be silly sometimes.

I was a Career and all, but there were so many people around here that it wasn't necessarily a good idea for me to actively hunt. I might run across some twerp from an outer District, or I might run into a Career about to meet up with her allies. Until the packs were both a lot smaller, I had reason not to look for a fight.

 _Yes, better to keep a low profile._ As low a profile as I could when I was humming theme music and beat-boxing freestyle verses.

* * *

Dylan Brooke- District Four male

Sometimes you spend all day hunting for Tributes and don't find anyone. It was maddening to waste hours wandering around, knowing my prey might hear me move or just happen to catch a glimpse of me and scatter before I even knew they were there. After a day of not catching anyone, I'd had enough. I picked a spot by a nice-looking tree and camped out. This time, I'd wait for a wandering Tribute to happen near.

It must have taken another two hours before anything happened. My legs cramped, my arms tingled, and I almost fell asleep a couple of times. Then I heard someone coming, and I jerked up. Almost as quickly, I ducked back down. It could be a Tribute, or it could be a mutt.

It wasn't a mutt. It was Soya Tores, the little girl from Eleven. It wasn't a particularly proud kill, but no one could be underestimated. I waited for her to wander closer as she looked up at the treetops, no doubt hunting for fruit. I was hoping she'd come so close I could grab her, but she stopped ten feet away. She looked at the tree I was hiding underneath. Some tiny movement or inconsistency in color caught her attention, and her eye flickered down at me.

I burst from my hiding spot as she turned and bolted. I was bigger, but she had a few seconds of head start, and she darted in between the trees like a deer. I knew I would catch her eventually, so there was no need to be rash. I had longer legs, and I was trained for this.

"Help!" Soya yelled, and she shot off diagonally. I ran after her, almost straight into the shelter she must have put up earlier. A rock smacked into my head from somewhere behind me, knocking me off-balance.

"Leave her alone!" someone yelled, as something knocked into me from the same direction as the stone. Ally and Nash emerged from the shelter and started kicking me as I rolled over and shoved off Philip, who had thrown the rock. Soya and Adonia both grabbed the shaft of my trident as I tried to shove it at Philip. They yanked it towards them, bringing me with it in a sitting position.

"You tried to kill Soya!" Ally yelled. She picked a branch up off the ground and starting beating me with it. _How many allies does she have?_ Every time I tried to get up, another one of them kicked me or threw a rock at me. _It's like fighting a pack of rats!_ A huge rock slammed into the side of my head, and I flopped limply. Everything blurred into a haze of kicks and hits. I would have left if they'd just let me get up. I'd never hurt any of them again.

* * *

Addy Child- District Six female

A cannon went off as we kicked the snot out of Dylan. I didn't really realize it until a minute later.

"Wait... guys," I said, holding up a hand to stop the others, who were still laying into him. "Was that his cannon?"

Nash gasped and nudged Dylan's side with his toe. "He's dead?"

"I didn't think we'd kill him," Ally said, turning pale. Soya looked like she wanted to cry.

"He was going to kill Soya," Filly said. "We were just protecting her."

"Filly's right," I said as we all withdrew from Dylan's body, making a circle at a respectful distance. "I know it's scary, but there was nothing else we could do. What else could we have done? We couldn't let him go."

"Yeah, he would have killed us or told the others where we were," Nash said.

"Which one of us do you think did it?" Ally asked.

"Probably you. You're the one with the stick," Nash said, pointing at the bloodstained branch Ally had dropped. Ally took a step away from it.

"I hit him with that rock," I said, pointing at the huge one by Dylan's cheek. "It was probably me."

"You say that like you're proud," Soya said sickly.

"I'm not _proud._ I'm just not sorry. He deserved it," I said.

"That's not nice," Ally said.

"It's true. He was trying to kill other people, and other people killed him. It's not my fault he's such a terrible Career he got killed by a bunch of nobodies," I said, and I folded my arms. Dylan didn't deserve any pity. Life is hard, and if you can't keep up, you die. You shouldn't start fights you can't finish.

"Thanks for saving me," Soya said to everyone.

"Of course! We weren't going to let him kill you," Ally said.

"That's right. We'll do the same to anyone else who gives us trouble!" I said, looking around the forest like there was another challenger. And unless it was a whole bunch of other Careers, I thought we might actually be able to.

* * *

 **77th place: Dylan Brooke- Beaten to death by Ally, Addy, Nash, Soya, and Filly**

 **Surprise, only one death this time! I thought that would be unexpected. It was funny there were two Dylans. People tended to like A better because he had the stutter. I personally liked that he wore whatever he wanted. I think "crossdressing" is underused in Hunger Games. Surely by that far in the future, we're past arbitrarily designating clothes "male" and "female" (hence the quotes around 'crossdressing'. Wearing a dress as a boy isn't inherently a cross) and we've stopped doing the same for makeup. Dylan was one of the craftier and more ruthless Careers, but he wasn't mean. If it had just been Soya, she definitely would have been dead. Sadly for Dylan, she has like eight thousand allies.**


	56. Narasanhaar

Autumn Kane- District Nine female

Someone was stalking me. I couldn't see or hear anyone, but I just felt it. I kept snapping my head back, trying to see who it was. I took evasive action and kept darting suddenly in random directions, but whoever it was, they were still there. There was nothing in the world creepier than the knowledge that you were being hunted. If I didn't find whoever it was before they found me, I was going to die.

The person stalking me had to be someone who used a short-range weapon, or else they would have attacked already. That was good news, since it meant they had to get close to me. By the time they got that close, I would definitely be able to see them. On the downside, the hunter definitely knew I knew about them. When I first started checking behind me, I thought I was just being paranoid, so I hadn't bothered to cover it up. They knew I was looking, and they would be that much more careful.

I forced myself to laugh, trying to pretend like I'd convinced myself nothing was there. It wouldn't do much good, though. Whoever it was would still be hunting me. The best I could hope for was that they might possibly be a little more obvious.

 _There's no way that will work,_ I thought, but it did. I heard the faintest noise, like someone stepping on a rock and shifting it. Immediately I pinpointed the noise as coming from behind a nearby tree. I ducked into a cluster of shrubbery and darted around to the tree, pressing my back against it. I took out my arrow and whipped around sharply, stabbing at the place where the hunter should be.

Nothing but air greeted me. I looked all around, and still there was nothing. But the feeling of being hunted was worse then before- so bad that I looked up in panic. From the branch above me, a better hunter than even the Academy could make looked back down at me. I could have evaded a Career. But nothing was more evasive than a leopard.

* * *

Natalie Andrez- District Two female

A lot of us were getting impatient. I couldn't say that for sure, since I was alone, but I was pretty confident I wasn't the only one who wanted to get the numbers a lot smaller. It was going to take a month for the Games to be over if someone didn't pick up the slack. Someone had to start killing, and I didn't go through all that training for nothing.

It was maddening how many Tributes there could be in the Arena without me being able to find any of them. I _did_ see Austin across a river, but I didn't get involved in that one. Jay and Patrick were big dudes. I was a Career, but I wasn't invincible.

When I heard the sounds of someone obviously struggling and making a racket, I curbed my first impulse to rush in and finish them off. It could be one of the packs, or one of the other alliances I wasn't ready to mess with. Even the little squirt alliance could be trouble if there were enough of them. It could also be a trap by someone who _wanted_ me to rush in like an idiot. Instead, I crept closer quietly, keeping an eye out for a trick.

It was Sammy making the racket. She was dangling from a tree with her foot in a snare. She was chewing the cord, trying to gnaw herself free, and she froze when she saw me.

"You're here to kill me," she said.

I took a minute and sized up some options. "No," I said.

"What, you're going to toy with me first?" Sammy asked.

"Nope," I said. "I didn't set that snare. I'm going to wait around and see who did. When they show up, I'll kill them."

"What about me?" Sammy asked.

"I mean yeah, I'll kill you after. Better than leaving you in the snare to starve. But if you don't give me away, you can know I killed the guy who was going to kill you," I said.

"I guess there isn't much else to do," Sammy said.

"Good," I said. Sammy had allies, too, or at least she did. They didn't seem to be helping her out of the snare. Either she was lost or they'd broken up. "I'll just hide up there and he'll never know what hit him," I said, pointing to the tree Sammy was dangling from.

I walked toward the tree, looking all around in case any of her allies either showed up or were waiting to ambush me. I walked underneath the tree's canopy, noting that its thick leaves would hide me from whoever set the snare until it was too late.

Like a flash of lightning, I realized I'd been had. My head snapped up and I raised my weapon for the ally I'd just realized was about to drop down on _me_ from those thick branches. As I looked up, I was struck by lightning. I didn't know electricity had weight, or that it wrapped around you like coils of rope.

* * *

Aurora Evergrove- District Twelve female

Life in the Hunger Games was long periods of simmering anxiety punctuated with brief periods of panic. A lot of the time, I could tuck away the fear and live an almost normal life. I could pick fruits and eat them and almost enjoy it. I liked the pretty trees and how green everything was and the colorful birds that sometimes flew by. The Arena was like paradise. It was just the Games that were scary.

A couple days after the Bloodbath, I did something a little stupid. All around me, there were fruit trees. A lot of them I recognized, like the grapes and the coconuts. Then there were a lot I didn't recognize. Only a total dummy would take one of those unfamiliar fruits and eat one. I could poison myself doing that. So what did I do? I ate one of the weird fruits. It was just so cool. It was yellow and shaped like a star. I'd never eaten a star before. I took a little tiny piece and tapped it to my tongue. A lot of poisons tasted bitter or made your tongue get furry or numb. When that didn't happen after an hour, I ate the star. It was a dumb thing to do, but I didn't die. The star fruit was super juicy and mild, like fruit juice inside a star-shaped skin. I wasn't going to try a weird fruit again, but I was glad I took the risk. I was probably going to die anyway. Now I could say I'd eaten a star fruit.

Other than the time I almost killed myself, my days in the Arena were pretty quiet. One time I heard a tiger kind of moan, but it left me alone. I never saw any other Tributes. It was just me and my fruit.

Then one day, as I was shucking a coconut, I saw death. Jayden could have snuck up on me, but she didn't even bother. She just showed right up, materializing from between two trees like the Grim Reaper.

"Hope you're ready to meet your maker," she said, sounding more matter-of-fact than ominous.

I jumped up and bolted. I knew my chances, but of course I was still going to try. I didn't hear her running after me, but then something smashed into my head and I face-planted forward. I turned over and saw the coconut she'd thrown at me. Behind it, I saw her jumping on me. She pinned me to the ground by my shirt and raised her other arm, her fingers gripping a rock. She pounded it into my head and I felt my skull break. The world dissolved into a red haze, and it didn't even hurt.

* * *

Pepper Crimson- District Eleven female

When I was eleven years old, I saw a boy die. We were working in the fields at night, and it was the first time one of the boys had used night-vision goggles. He and some of the other boys were pretending they were spies. They were flashing nonsense signs to each other and talking in a made-up code when the Peacekeeper wasn't looking, and then when they looked, all the boys hushed and tried to look innocent. The Peacekeeper knew they weren't really doing anything, so he let it go on. At the end of the night, one of the boys tucked his goggles into his pocket and tried to keep them. They were just so cool and sleek. It was nothing to kill a boy over. The Peacekeeper who was guarding us was the one who had to shoot him, as punishment for letting it happen. It was the first time I ever saw a Peacekeeper hesitate. I thought I saw him cry when the boy's blood trickled into the dirt. The boy was six years old.

Every day for the rest of my life, I thought of that moment. I knew long before the Games how quickly someone could die. That boy had been running and jumping through the trees, every part of him moving and living. One shot, and he was deathly still. The only thing that moved was the life trickling out of him. Over something as stupid as a pair of glasses, a life was over. Every time I saw a Peacekeeper, I wondered what was the smallest thing he would kill me over. Every time I saw a child, I wondered how much longer they'd be alive.

Since that day, I'd never felt far from death. When I felt something prick at my senses and looked into the distance, straight into an arrow about to be released at me, I didn't see the regret the Peacekeeper had. The boy aiming the bow looked intent, like he really cared about the shot. I knew then that he did have some measure of kindness, just like the other murderer I saw. He knew it had to be, but he wanted it to be quick.

* * *

Vester Mortana- District Nine male

Me and Kerry had a good thing going on. We had food, water, and an impervious hiding spot. We spent the days napping, eating, and chatting.

 _IS IT BIGGER THAN A COCONUT?_ Kerry asked.

There was a YES and a NO painted on my poncho. I pointed to the YES.

CAN I EAT IT? Kerry asked.

YES.

IS IT AN ANIMAL? Kerry asked.

YES.

DOES IT HAVE FEATHERS? Kerry asked.

YES.

DOES IT QUACK?

NO.

DOES IT BITE?

YES, I indicated, and I wrote on an exclamation point.

IS IT A GOOSE?

YES.

We'd started out with I Spy, but pretty much every answer was some variety of fruit. Twenty Questions was more open-ended. When that ran out, we'd move on to something else. If everything worked out, we might be the last two in the Arena.

The temple started to rumble under me. I wondered if we were having an earthquake because the Gamemakers were mad at us and wanted us back in the action. But only my side of the temple was moving. Suddenly, the tower gave out underneath me and crumbled, sending me tumbling through the now empty space.

 _Now this hardly seems fair,_ I thought as I landed on the stone floor. I wasn't quite dead, so I saw the edges of the tower topple inside in chunks so they would bury me. _They didn't do this to Kerry. Guess they wanted to send a message and picked one of us. It's not his fault, though. Hope he does well._

* * *

 **Surprise, a ton of deaths! I was doing a little calculating and I'm going to boot camp in about a month. I want to get this done before I go. If I have about a month to write about about eighty people to kill, I have to kill roughly 2.5 per chapter. Because later chapters will necessarily have fewer deaths and because I might not be able to write every day, I kicked it up a notch. That way I'm ahead in preparation for slower chapters.**

 **78th place: Autumn Kane- eaten by a leopard**

 **I did the counting again and I think there were 78 Tributes when this chapter started. Autumn got overlooked at first since she was a newcomer, but I picked up on the part where she was clever and that got people interested. I knew someone was going to do the take-off-your-sari thing, so I picked her. However, I knew she wasn't going to win in the end, so I culled her. I used a couple of wild card votes to clear a few people I knew wouldn't win, and she was one. Also, my amused gratitude to the person who voted for her to die because she had the same name as my bully.**

 **77th place: Natalie Andrez- Electrocuted by Zibby**

 **Natalie actually had enough votes to kill. She fluctuated a lot but generally stayed either in the danger zone or right next to it, probably just because she was new. She was a more devoted Career, which can be nice, but she too fell victim to the Career curse. Sometimes you trick someone, and sometimes you try to trick someone else using someone as bait and it turns out the bait is tricking you.**

 **76th place: Aurora Evergrove- Smacked to death by Jayden**

 **Aurora was a wild card vote. She wasn't getting enough notice to be the winner. She was nice and sweet, but she was also twelve. There are so many Tributes, some of them are going to get lackluster deaths. It was bound to happen eventually.**

 **75th place: Pepper Crimson- Shot by Theo**

 **Most people probably didn't know Pepper was here, since I pretty much forgot to ever introduce her. Despite that, she did have one death vote, and it doesn't take much with the votes so spread out. She had a cool story with her background, so at least we got to see that.**

 **74th place: Vester Mortana- Killed by falling stone**

 **As some people pointed out, it was pretty hard for anyone to kill Kerry or Vester, since no one knows they're there and no one else wanted to climb the temple. I had to take a minute and write myself back out of a corner. The rest of the temple is fine, and it remains to be seen if Kerry will take the hint. Since Vester got more death votes, he's the one that got unfairly targeted. Sometimes you got crappy luck.**


	57. Rupture

Jayden Chadsey- District One female

 _So many Careers are dying._ Gloria, Ruby, Fable... I might have been involved in some of those deaths, but it still bugged me. I felt guilty helping kill people from One. It wasn't some District loyalty thing. I just didn't like how people always thought the Tributes from Two were the toughest and the pair from one were, ironically, the second-stringers. People thought we were all pretty ditzes, like a slightly more dangerous offshoot of the Capitol. The whole reason I volunteered was to prove everyone wrong.

So far, I'd been racking up a good kill count. I wasn't in this to get the biggest body pile and dance on the corpses while I wore a skull as a hat, but it _was_ the best way to objectively rank a Tribute. Other than winning, of course. My kills weren't a bunch of crying little kids, either. Some were, and some were trained Careers. Just like last time, I was doing a good job. I just had to keep doing it.

As usual, I was on the hunt. The bad thing about such a large amount of Tributes was that it took forever to get through the Games. The good thing was that the population was so dense, I hardly had to start hunting before I ran across someone. I'd already caught a glimpse of Zinnia climbing a tree, and I actually passed her over. There were so many Tributes, I could be picky with my kills. I didn't need to go kill someone whose boobs hadn't even grown in yet. She'd die eventually. It was a waste of my time.

The next find was another story. Tuesday wasn't the strongest Career, but she was a fighter all the same. And she _had_ been fighting, from the looks of it. Her nose was obviously broken, and it was flecked with dried blood. One of her eyes had a popped vessel, and her whole face was bruised. It didn't stop her from seeing me, though.

"I knew I should have grabbed that sword," she said, her voice nasal with pressure.

* * *

Tuesday Erelle- District Two female

 _Why is it always the fistfighters?_

First Coral, now Jayden. Coral and me just ended up brawling because that's how it turned out, but this was Jayden's thing. So much so that she had brass knuckles on the fist aimed at my throat. I would have died if I hadn't dodged enough that she hit nothing but air.

 _I could have died._

No one wanted to admit they were scared, at least not Careers. All the Victors pretended they were so brave and never thought of anything but winning. They pretended it was easy. They never talked about the splitting headache you had the day after someone tried to punch you to death, or how you covered your face the first time you slept afterward so no one saw you were crying. Everything in my body already hurt from my last fight. All their training and motivation didn't matter, because my opponent had all of that, too. She looked so well-rested and fresh. I wasn't fighting to win at all. I was fighting not to die.

Jayden and I had similar styles. We circled each other, both anticipating the classic moves each of us was trying to make. We were both expertly trained in the exact same discipline. She was looking for the same openings and weak spots I was. As soon as she got close to me, I knew she would be able to wear me down. So I did the stupidest thing I could do.

Every martial arts teacher will tell you kicks are idiotic. They're flashy and can do a ton of damage, but they always mean you put yourself off-balance. No fighter with half a brain would kick their opponent in a fight against another martial artist. It was the only thing Jayden wouldn't expect.

Jayden was fast enough to avoid a broke leg from my kick, but I doubled down and plowed into her, another stupid move that brought us both to the ground. We rolled over each other, punching and kicking like a couple of spitting tomcats. I was covered with blood and could barely breathe within minutes, but I'd gotten in more good hits than I expected. Jayden was spitting blood from her torn cheeks as she punched back at me.

Real fights don't last long. The reason I preferred weapons to fists was how banally ugly and short a fistfight was. After three minutes, we were both panting on our backs, trying to catch a breath before our opponent did. In our conditions, one good hit could end it all. Jayden got up on her knees first. She looked behind me and her mouth fell open.

I let out a wet, bloody sigh when I saw them. Valerie and Jason were leaning against a tree, watching the fight go down.

"You make a lot of noise when you fight," Valerie said.

"Come at me," Jayden said, weakly raising her fists from her kneeling position.

Valerie came to me, leaving Jayden for Jason. My muscles hurt so bad I could barely think about raising my arms, much less sitting up. I wasn't even sure I would have lived if I'd killed Jayden.

Jayden fell on her back as Jason reached her. I thought something seemed fishy, and she proved me right. As Jason raised his sword, she donkey-kicked him with the force of a sledgehammer, right between the legs.

Jason squealed like a pig and dropped, curling into a ball. As Valerie bent over him in concern, Jayden looked at me and flashed a bloodstained smile. I painfully raised my thumb at her, before Valerie much more cautiously returned.

* * *

Patrick Donegal- District Four male

 _I love my alliance._

Sitting with my allies around a cozy fire, everything was perfect. We were eating crispy slices of something Mati called "breadfruit" and fried in a pan with coconut oil. When she told us it would taste like a french fry, none of us believed her. When I took a bite, I'll be darned if it didn't taste just like a deep-fried potato.

"This is the weirdest thing," Austin said.

"This is the _best,"_ Logan said, almost burning his fingers as he took more.

I was the only new guy, but I never felt it for a second. It was like I'd been best friends with the rest of the guys forever. Austin was like a little brother, and Logan was like my tough friend I met during detention. If the Games went on forever, I wouldn't have cared. We could live the rest of our lives here, telling stories and eating Mati's food.

There should have been a word for how it all made me feel. During moments like this, my very happiness made me sad. I felt a creeping melancholy about how perfect it all was. I loved how beautiful these moments were, and the extent to which I valued them made it clearer how transient they were. It was like nostalgia, but a sort of future nostalgia for something I knew was going to end, leaving me to look back at it wistfully.

I wanted to say something to acknowledge what I was thinking about, but I didn't have the words. "I'm glad I joined this alliance" sounded like I thought it was a practical and solid strategy. "I love you guys" sounded like friendly joshing. "I'm glad you're my friends" was the most accurate, but that was something a preschooler said, and it didn't even cover everything. I was glad I even _met_ these people. I considered it a miracle I got this chance to be with them, and I was almost glad for the Games, just because it meant we had this time. There should be a word for that.

* * *

Austin Dallas- District Eleven male

Zach died for me. I hadn't said anything to Jay about it. He was keeping it to himself, like he always did when he was sad. He thought he had to be strong for us. It would almost be insulting if I didn't know why he did it. First of all, he wasn't the only strong one. Zach was strong enough to die for someone. Patrick was a Career. Logan had seen more people die before the Games than in them. We didn't need him to be strong for us. Second of all, we all knew he wasn't that strong. He was brave and all that, but he wasn't fooling any of us. We knew how sad he was. We pretended we thought he was fine because sometimes, _he_ needed _us_ to be strong.

Late that night, I got out of my sleeping bag. I'd been sleeping a little farther from Jay since Zach died, both because I knew he wanted some alone time and because in my heart, I was afraid he blamed me for it. No one who's not a monster ever says something like that to someone, but anyone in that situation is still going to wonder.

I also wanted a minute alone. I stopped at the edge of our camp, though. I wasn't going to be stupid and get myself killed because I was moping. Jay had enough to be sad about. I sat at the base of one of the trees that loosely circled our camp, facing out into the jungle and looking up at the stars.

My mother always said Jay was the doer and I was the thinker. It wasn't that I didn't do and Jay didn't think, of course, but we both did more of one or the other. I liked to indulge in what some people called pointless philosophizing. I thought about Jay, and how I felt about Zach's death, and what I would say to Zach if he was here. I wished I could thank him. I didn't even see him before he was dead.

A raindrop dripped onto my head, and I tipped it back to look straight up the tree. I remembered, when I saw the mutt, that it wasn't raining.

In the second I had to see the mutt before it seized my throat in its mouth, I saw it was both canine and lizard-like. It had the lean muscles of a greyhound with the spikes the lanky frame of a skink, and it was as long as an alligator. It was either black or dark green, so I could barely see it even when it was wound around me. Behind it, I saw the movement as dozens of identical mutts flowed down the tree. I tried vainly to call a warning to my allies, but the air couldn't get past the vise grip on my throat. All I could do was sag in relief when I saw the rest of the pack moving out into the night, away from our camp.

* * *

 **I killed a bunch again to make up for later chapters when there won't be as many people to kill.**

 **73rd place: Jayden Chadsey- Stabbed by Valerie**

 **And what a trail of death and destruction she leaves. I tried to spread things out, but Jayden was one of the more aggressive Careers, so she did a lot. She didn't kill Jason, but he wishes he was dead. Had they not been interrupted, Jayden would have been able to kill Tuesday. They just made a lot of noise, screaming in agony and all, so a couple of vultures swooped in. Chalk up one more to the deadliest player so far: the Career curse.**

 **72nd place: Tuesday Erelle- Stabbed by Valerie**

 **It would have been one kill for Valerie and one kill for Jason, but Jason is sadly indisposed. Tuesday did better this time, since she was focused on staying alive and not what WAS admittedly a really cool story. She was already half-dead from Coral, and she always did prefer her fancypants glaive or whatever to dull-looking fistfights. She got away the first time, but the Career curse has claimed another victim.**

 **71st place: Austin Dallas- Killed by a rakshasa**

 **I thought about killing Jay first this time just to shake things up and see what Austin would do, but then I remembered it was a voting Games. Austin vacillated a lot in the polls, but this time he had enough to do him in. I'd sad it came here, though. His allies just lost a friend, and now he's gone, too. Austin is somewhat of the alliance's soul, being its most introspective member. I suppose that role will now shift to Mati, who is now the only one who needs outside protection.**

 **I was so excited to do all these cool Hindu monsters, but whenever I try to find some, all I find is gods and demigods. I can use some of those, but I want to make sure I don't use the highly respected ones, so I was HOPING to use mostly monsters. I was stymied when I found that pretty much all monsters are just called "rakshasa" as far as I can find, and there aren't many specific ones. Then I realized I could make up whatever the heck I wanted and call it a "rakshasa". So here are some lizardy doggy rakshasas.**


	58. Sacred

Marley Xander- District Four female

"Marley continues to wander the jungle, as she has been doing for like four days," I narrated as I sat on a rock, cleaning under my fingernails. I must have looked like a total ditz to the audience. I really was a trained Career. I just hadn't stumbled across anyone lately. It was a big Arena, and there was a lot of cover. Since I wasn't hell-bent on killing anyone, I hadn't gotten into any trouble. Careers were supposed to _win._ Killing people was usually necessary, but that wasn't the goal. At least there was the time a monkey jumped on me and I killed it. That should show everyone I wasn't totally useless. I thought about eating it, but _gross._

 _Hey, what's that?_ I thought when I heard something smashing through the undergrowth. It would have gotten a bigger reaction, but it couldn't be a Tribute. It was making way too much noise to be either a hiding Tribute or a stalking Career. When I realized that meant it had to be an animal, I got up pretty quick and hid behind a tree to take a look.

 _What? That's a_ cow! There was a cow placidly meandering along in front of me. A plain black cow with no horns. It was just sort of walking along and eating grass. It saw me looking at it and mooed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, cautiously approaching the cow. It seemed tame, and it let me walk right up. I peeked under its belly and wondered if I could milk it. It was more a hypothetical than anything I planned to do. I didn't know how to milk a cow. That was just ridiculous. I wasn't going to milk a cow in the middle of the Hunger Games. People already thought I was goofy.

I poked the cow lightly, wondering if it was fake or something. It felt like a real cow. The cow swung its head slowly and looked at me with its big eyes. I got a bit nervous for a second. I'd never realized how big cows were. If it kicked me or stomped me, it could kill me without even meaning to.

Even as I thought it, the cow stepped sideways, jostling me and almost knocking me over. I stumbled back and recovered my balance.

"Hey, watch it, you stupid cow!" I said, and I made a shooing motion. There was a huge crackling noise, and everything flashed white. The next thing I knew I was on my back, the smell of smoke in the air.

 _Oh my gosh, I got hit by lightning!_ I thought when I finally realized. The smoke, the way my heart was flopping, the paralysis, the weird smell... I got hit by lightning. My hair was all frizzed up, and I felt the charge it held. A creeping numbness spread across me and I felt my heart slow as it failed to reestablish its rhythm. I could hardly fathom the unbelievable bad luck as I lay dying. The cow moved closer and looked down at me. It mooed.

* * *

Miall Piscot- District One male

I didn't want to think about my feelings. It was totally stupid to fall in love during the Games. A dozen people had done it before, and it never once ended well. Tillo was a bitter spinster after losing her lover twice, and she was the best-case scenario. All the other couples were both dead. The only time this ever worked out was Hyden and Estrella, and they weren't together in the Arena. There was enough death and pain in the Games without adding heartbreak.

Even so, I could only control my actions. I couldn't control my emotions. I could choose whether to act on them, but whether or not I did, my feelings were still there. I hadn't told Ember I loved her. I didn't spend all day pining after her, or even hold her hand. That didn't change the fact that everyone knew there was something there.

I felt guilty that she was more open than I was. From what I could tell, Ember fell in love fast and hard. She didn't let it cloud her judgment, and she was just as quick to fall out of love if her target didn't measure up, but she didn't feel the need to hide her feelings. She was confident and knew what she wanted. Both of those were things I liked in a woman. If I wasn't in the Games, she was exactly the kind of girl I would want to date. But I wasn't fooling anyone. She was still the kind of girl I _wanted_ to date. I just didn't want to admit it.

"We've been really lucky so far," Shui said. "Other than that random bird that snatched Gizmo, we haven't had any trouble."

"That makes me nervous," Ember said. There she went, acting all logical and intuitive and showing how great a girl she was. I wished she would do something stupid or mean so I could dislike her or at least be pleasantly neutral.

"We're already the strongest alliance, since the packs killed each other," Floki said. We might have been the strongest from the start if we'd wanted to play it that way. Four Careers, including the berserker, were nothing to trifle with.

"I'm going to go grab some firewood," Priscilla said.

"I'll help," Shui said. Floki trundled off after them, even though there was plenty of wood on our pile.

"Wow, hint much?" Ember asked as she watched them go.

"Bunch of rubberneckers," I said.

"So, they right or what? Do you like me back, or should I go find someone else?" Ember asked. I hadn't expected her to be so direct, but I should have known. That was what she was.

"What's the use? We can't make anything of it," I said.

"Almost all volunteers die, but we still volunteer. People like us must not be good at odds," Ember said. "What's one more long shot after so many others?"

"You're not worried?" I asked.

"Big reward, big risk," Ember shrugged. "It's worth it or it's not."

"You know what?" I said, before I could think better. "You're right."

* * *

Theo Kasius- District Two male

 _Wonder what Crimson's up to._

We were supposed to go into the Games together, back forever ago. She got injured, she had a limp, and that was that. I never told her, but I was so relieved. We all talked like we were big shots, but so few volunteers came home. I didn't want to see her die.

While I mused about all this, I was hunting. For me, killing wasn't the goal or something shameful I did because I had to. Careers knew death was part of life. Whether it happened one way or another, it was coming for everyone. Whether you're a king or a chimney sweeper, we all dance with the Reaper, or something like that. There were seventy people in the Arena. There was only one Victor.

A lot of Careers were dying. That made things better for me, but it also made things longer. The Careers were the ones doing the killing. In this Arena, no one had to die of hunger or thirst or cold. It was all on us. Every Career that died meant more people I had to kill. That was why I hunted. It was weirdly comical the mundane things I thought about as I did. I would raise my bow and I'd be thinking about my good old dog Suki. I cleaned blood off my axe and wondered if it was going to rain soon.

It was nothing personal when I aimed my arrow at Jayla. She was just one more person to kill. She was the one I happened to see first. She was shaking a skinny palm tree, trying to jiggle loose a coconut. I idly wondered if a falling coconut could kill someone.

There was a sudden pressure on my neck, and my head snapped back into the tree I was standing against. My mind went immediately to the monkey mutts of the last jungle Arena. If it was any sort of ape, I was in critical danger. Monkeys were _strong._ I'd rather fight Jayden than a chimp.

"Shoot _my_ ally, will you?" It was the only thing maybe worse than a chimp. Des was about eight feet tall and built like a Olympian. She proved it when she stood to her full height, sliding me up the tree by my neck until my feet dangled. She had one elbow hooked around my throat and was bracing it against her her other arm. The pressure on my throat had me gagging, and there was no way I could breathe.

I didn't bother trying to break her grip. Instead I reached for an arrow, intending to stab her so she'd let go herself. To my absolute horror, my hand got halfway up before I felt it go weightless and fall. Des probably didn't know it, but she was constricting my blood vessels as well as my windpipe. She didn't need six minutes to choke me. She was going to think I was such a wimp, dying in ten seconds.

* * *

 **Hey, it's all Careers!**

 **70th place: Marley Xander- Insulted the sacred cow**

 **Don't insult cows in an Indian Arena. Not that Marley really meant any insult. The Gamemakers just wanted an excuse to blast someone with lightning for insulting a cow since they thought it was hilarious. Not so hilarious for poor Marley. She was a lighthearted Career, so this seemed an appropriate death. I'd hoped she would last longer, since I've always liked Marley, but the Career curse takes no prisoners. On the bright side, she has the lasting legacy of being a major part of Ava's recovery from anorexia. For Marley, that's probably better than winning.**

 **69th place: Theo Kasius- Hypoxia from Des popping his neck vessels**

 **Another Career curse victim. Theo didn't have enough fans who specifically wanted him to live, so he died. He was one of the more efficient killers, not that it really matters in a voting Games. He was professional but not cruel, and he didn't have that many death votes. It just doesn't take many yet.**

 **(trivia note: Des is 6 foot 5. She just looks even taller because she's confident and sort of scary-looking)**

 **Unless the votes change after this chapter, it won't be so many Careers going forward. The votes are starting to get more spread out between all the Districts. I just thought that was an interesting trend, so I shared it.**


	59. Nag

Valerie Lenn- District One female

When I got back to Jason, he was still on the ground, curled on his side and clutching his umnentionables.

"I don't have those, but that sucks," I said sympathetically. Nut shots might be the butt of jokes in many areas, but a Career knew that crap _hurt._

I expected a jokey dismissal or tough-guy quip from Jason, but he didn't even seem like he'd heard me. His face was bone white, and he was covered in sweat. He twisted his head to one side and vomited.

"Dude, you okay?" I asked, leaning down farther in concern. Maybe Jayden missed her target and his his internal organs. Or maybe that _was_ her target.

Jason started to cry, and I knew it was serious. Jason hadn't cried in front of me since he was three years old and saw a baby antelope get eaten in a nature show.

"Roll over. Let me see," I said. I brushed his hands away and rolled him onto his back. I pulled his shirt up and examined his stomach. I didn't see any bruising, but I couldn't tell his appendix had burst or something like that.

"Oh man, I don't want to look at that," I said when I realized the alternative. Jason was my brother. That was wrong on so many levels. Unless I honestly thought he was about to die, I wasn't pulling down his pants. The problem was that I wasn't sure he wasn't about to die.

"I'm fine," Jason said. He most definitely was not fine, since his voice was pinched and h barely got the words out, but he wasn't about to die.

"Did she pop your appendix?" I asked.

"Not the appendix," Jason wheezed.

"Can you stand up?" I asked.

Jason very crookedly got to his feet, mostly because I helped. He took a step and whimpered.

"Let's just rest a while," I said. It felt a little weird sitting down next to the two corpses we'd just killed, but he was making me more nervous than they were.

"I killed her, if it makes you feel better," I said. But I didn't think he would feel better for a long time.

* * *

Filly Kozlov- District Ten male

Addie broke a branch above me, sending twigs and bits of leaf showering down on me.

"Oops, sorry," she said. She, Soya and I were trying to track down the frog I'd heard croaking somewhere. Our hope was that it was poisonous and I could use it to coat the darts I'd been carving.

"I see it!" Soya called suddenly from the tree next to me. "I can get it!"

" _Wait!"_ I screamed. Soya almost fell off her perch because of my tone. "What color is it?"

"It's bright yellow," Soya said. "It's right in front of me. I can grab it."

" _Don't grab it!"_ I said. "Those ones are so poisonous you just have to touch them. You could have died!"

"Oh, well okay then," Soya said. "Yeah, not grabbing that."

"How do we get it?" Addie asked.

"Use this," Ally said, and she tossed one of the plastic food containers to Soya. Soya very opened it and I heard it click shut when she leaned forward into a pile of leaves.

"I got it. I'm coming down," she said.

"How are you going to kill it without catching it?" Addie asked as I held the container with the frog jumping around inside.

"This is gross. I'm sorry," I said. I shook the container as violently as I could, shaking the poor frog to death. Soya made a sympathetic noise when I opened the container and revealed the sad, limp frog.

Late that night, after everyone else was in our shelter, I was still making darts. All I had was one of Dylan's knives, and they were awkward to cut with. I'd made three darts, and after each was done, I rubbed them on the frog, which was spitted over our fire so the poison would sweat out.

"You should come to bed," Nash said from the shelter. "You're going to fall asleep and fall into the fire."

"It's okay. I'll come soon," I said. I couldn't sleep when there was work to be done. Three darts wasn't enough, and once the frog's poison was all evaporated, I wouldn't be able to make more. I picked up one of the darts and examined its shoddy workmanship. I started on another, even though I could barely concentrate on my cuts.

My fingers were so tired they were curling. I tried to flex them, but they were locked into place. I went to pull them straight with the other hand, but that one was clenched, too. It was then I realized I'd killed myself. A minute ago, I unthinkingly picked up one of my darts to look it over. A dart that had already been dipped.

As I tried to stand, I tipped off the log I was sitting on and my legs curled to meet my chest. I gasped for breath as my chest contracted and refused to rise. I couldn't die. I had so much more to do.

* * *

Logan Quinn- District Five male

Mati was such a goof. It was surreal to me that someone could live in Panem and still be so happy. Where I came from, smiling was a weakness. I'd never seen Mati _not_ smiling unless it was right after an ally died. She took the deaths so well, too. It was like she couldn't even understand something that sad, so she just went on anyway.

With Austin gone, Mati was our alliance's mascot. It was inevitable that a bunch of macho, old-school boys would dote on the sole female ally. Mati acted like a mother around camp, and we all treated her like a little sister. We were determined to keep her safe, and we never left her alone. While Jay and Patrick were out patrolling for Careers and mutts, my job was to watch Mati. It would have felt like babysitting, but Mati was cool. She was scatting a little nonsense song as she poked at the embers in the fire. After that was done, she started pounding a leaf with a rock.

"What did the leaf ever do to you?" I teased.

"It owes me money," she snarled. Because of course she had a joke ready. "But really it's a tea leaf. I thought we could have tea later."

"Ah yes, I do like a spot of tea," I said. "We drank that every time we won a fight."

"Somehow I doubt the hones- _tea_ of that," Mati said.

"You calling me a liar?" I asked, feigning indignation.

"I ain't calling you for supper," Mati said. "But probably later I will, since I do usually make supper."

"Good thing, since no one else can cook," I said.

Mati stood up and walked to the pile of sticks we'd gathered earlier. She bent over and poked through to find one for the fire.

As I glanced down to stomp an escaped spark, I heard a soft cry. I looked up and saw Mati lying on the ground.

"Mati? Are you okay?" I asked as I ran over. I heard a low growling hiss and followed it to see a five-foot snake slithering into the distance. I didn't know much about snakes, but I knew what it meant if one had a hood.

"Oh no." I rolled Mati onto her back. "Mati!"

"It hurts," Mati said. Her voice was hollow, and there were two ugly bite marks on her arm. Her eyes were unfocused, and she started to close them.

"No, no, no, don't go to sleep!" I said. "Come on, get up." I pulled her to her feet and let her go. She swayed drunkenly and fell.

"It's okay. You'll be all right." I bent down and scooped Mati up like a baby. I looked up at the sky. "Someone send something! Just take all the money you would have spent on us and send her medicine!"

Mati started to shake. Then she started to whimper in pain, and that broke my heart. This wasn't some gang war between a bunch of boys who knew what they were getting into. It was a sweet, funny girl who never hurt anyone, and she was in agony.

"It's okay. I've got you. I've got you," I said as I held Mati close and knelt on the ground. She grabbed my arm weakly and turned her head into my shirt. She went limp with horrible suddenness. I supported her dangling head with my hand.

 _The cannon. There's no cannon._ She wasn't gone yet. I looked back at the sky. "Please send something! There's still time. There's still ti-"

The cannon sounded. Time was up.

* * *

Aliara Bavier- District Twelve female

Nothing was going according to plan, but then, that was the nature of the Games. Originally, I'd planned to ally with a boy who wasn't smart enough to realize I wasn't really into him. This Arena was full of Tributes with experience. They weren't going to fall for that. They all knew the stakes and they'd all died before. That left me alone and scared, just trying not to die.

I didn't think I could do it on my own. I was willing to do anything, but I wasn't _able_ to do everything. I couldn't fight multiple Careers, or even one Career. I didn't want to kill little kids, so anyone I fought would be on my level or better. I didn't have the skills or experience to get through this on my own. I needed to find an ally.

Finding allies wasn't easy once we were in the Arena. Everyone was paranoid and scared. It was hard enough just to find someone, since almost everyone was hiding. Even if I did, I couldn't just walk up to them. Any wrong move would scare them away, or provoke an attack.

Because of that, I was extremely cautious when I saw a girl sitting by a tree and eating a peach. I got close enough to see it was one of the girls from Nine, the one with the weird name like Centipede, but I didn't want to get any closer and spook her. Instead I wanted to stay a safe distance and say something, but I had to make sure it wasn't something startling.

"Excuse me?" I settled on. That didn't seem like something a Career would say. The girl jumped and took a knife out, but she didn't run. I stepped out into clear sight so she could see I didn't have a weapon.

"I don't want to fight. I'm all alone. I'm trying to find an ally," I said.

The girl looked all around behind me, then considered. "You can come closer," she said.

I slowly made my way over. "I'm Aliara," I said.

"I'm Citlali," the girl said. _Of course her name wasn't Centipede._

"Are you alone too?" I asked.

"Until now," she said. "I have a shelter back there." She pointed to a far point between the trees.

 _That went better than expected,_ I thought as we started that way, walking side-by-side. Then I felt her knife in my back.

"Why?" I asked as I lay looking up at her.

"It's what you were going to do to me. You think I'm stupid?" she asked.

"I wasn't going to do that," I said. I felt the warm blood seeping into my shirt.

"Well if that's true, I'm sorry," she said, and she left. Just like I'd feared, I died alone.

* * *

 **Ever been kicked so hard your testicle ruptured? Not me, since I don't have those. I imagine it would hurt, though.**

 **68th place: Filly Kozlov- accidental poisoning**

 **Accidents happen when people are tired. You fall asleep at the wheel, you don't check some safety precaution, or you cross-contaminate. In cooking, that would mean a gross case of salmonella. With poison dart frog poison, you straight up die. There's still a wide spread of votes, so it only took -2 to kill Filly. I hope as the Games progresses that things will be clearer, because I think Filly just kind of got the shaft and no one really hated him.**

 **67th place: Mati Berlin- Bitten by a cobra**

 **I was sorry it was Mati who got picked. She's just so positive. There's no reason not to like her. But she wasn't going to win anyway, so here's one more terrible thing to happen to the Jayhawks. Cobras take longer to kill people, but it would be super boring to watch her die for an hour. I really liked Mati, but it wasn't my pick this time (not that she would have won anyway).**

 **66th place: Aliara Bavier- Stabbed by Citlali**

 **I looked at Citlali's original story and saw she was willing to kill if she had to. It's so hard to trust anyone in the Arena. Aliara really didn't mean any harm, but you have to be skeptical. I'd hoped Aliara could get more development here since her last story was Survivor and a weird format. At least she got one POV before she died.**

 **There are still some slots open for the second Survivor Games. I've been asking my collaboraters what Districts they want so I can get started. Hopefully I can get a bit written before boot camp.**

 **PS in case you didn't catch the first mention, Nag is that big fat cobra from Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.**


	60. Sisterhood

Velvet Tek- District Six female

This was the best Arena I could have asked for. Right from the start, I recognized it. I'd always loved fairy tales. I loved stories where orphans has fairy godmothers and where long-lost sisters came back someday.

I didn't know as many Indian stories as I did Panemian ones, but I remembered some. I remembered one about a god who made a beautiful woman from water, but she smelled like a fish. When the woman did some good deed and another god granted her a boon, she asked to smell like flowers. I thought that was the dumbest thing. If I had a boon, I'd wish for something cool, like a pair of wings or laser eyes.

Bambi asked me once how it seemed like he was more affected by the Games even though I was the one who had died twice. I told him he must have had a better life before. Life could only hurt you if you let things in. Bambi did, but I was always closed off. I let him in, and a very few other people, but I knew what kind of pain that could cause, and I didn't do it lightly. That, and I'd never had to kill anyone yet.

There was one other thing that kept me from getting hurt. I didn't really think I'd win the Games. I couldn't lose hope I never had. I was doing my best and trying to live, because I was human, but I knew how these things turned out. Fairy stories were only stories.

Monsters were real, though, at least in the Games. When I saw the lizardlike animal coming down one of the trees, I hid behind a bush and crawled away out of sight. Another one appeared in a tree in front of me. They were pack animals, then, and there had to be more. All I could do was get to my feet and run.

I heard a hiss, and then a thump as one of the mutts hit the ground. Leaves and grass rustled as it came after me. I didn't know how long they would chase me, and I had no reason to assume it wasn't to the edge of the Arena. But they didn't have to. Another one materialized in front of me. Wherever I turned, another one came. The Capitol had to have its spectacle. Bread and circuses, just like the stories.

* * *

Dylan Aquarius- District Four male

There were so many of them. When the first mutt came, it was easy to take care of. Their bodies were so lithe and slender, they couldn't take much damage. I killed the first by cutting its stomach open as we rolled on the ground. But as soon as that one fell, another one jumped at me. It bit my arm, and I punched it with the other hand. I battered it until it lost its grip, then stomped its head. Its jaw crunched, and it went limp.

When I stood up, four more surrounded me. Half a dozen others were in the trees, some climbing down and some waiting. Two of them jumped on me, dragging me down. Another one piled on as soon as I was down. I swung one of the first two at him, knocking him away. The two still on me bit and clawed at me. I held one out at arm's length as it snapped its jaws and strained at me. When the other bit at the back of my neck, I flipped it over me and slammed it down. I held the other by its neck and front leg and bashed it into the fallen one like a club.

"It's gonna take more than that!" I yelled. Two of the mutts were already dead, and the one I'd smashed was dying. I brought the one I was holding down on my knee, snapping its back. I threw it at the three others coming at me.

After those were dead, too, the entire horde descended upon me. I could hardly move under the weight of their teeming bodies. Blood and bits of flesh splattered everywhere, as I repaid them tenfold for the damage they did to me. At the end of the fight, there would be one dead human. There would be a lot more dead mutts.

* * *

Zinnia Fraser- District Ten female

Alinta, Smudge and I were making a secret language. Mostly it was a sign language, since that made it even more secret. Silver and Anise were pretending they didn't notice, because they were old and they didn't want to spoil our little kid club. Peach kept spying on us. We had a signal for that, though. When one of us caught her, we flashed a sign, and that meant everyone started making random gestures to throw her off.

Smudge turned sideways suddenly, and her head pricked up. She leaped to her feet and pointed into the jungle. I followed the finger and saw some rustling bushes.

"Lizard," Smudge said. I looked behind us at Peach, who was picking up a big stick.

"Yeah, I saw it," she said. "Silver?! Daisy?! I think it's time to go!"

"What is it?" Silver asked when she got up over the riverbank, where she'd been trying to wash some of our clothes.

"Big ol' lizard," Peach said. "We better clear out. There's probably more."

"We're just going to leave all our stuff?" Alinta asked. The bushes rustled again, closer this time. "Never mind. Who needs it?"

I grabbed a bag before I ran. It would be good to have some supplies. I slung it over my back and bolted after the others. I tried to add an extra burst of speed as I caught up, since I knew if Silver saw me lagging behind, she'd come back for me and slow us all down.

The lizard had been on the ground before. That's where I was looking when it jumped down on me from a tree. I screamed as I fell.

"Zinnia!" Anise screamed. I saw her turn and run back at me, and then the second one attacked. I held my arms crossed over my face as the first one tried to bite my throat and the second one ripped at my stomach.

"Get off her!" I heard Peach yell, and the lizard sitting on me and trying to bite my throat lurched sideways. It arched its back as Anise tried to peel it off me while Peach pummeled its head with both fists.

The pain in my stomach eased, and I looked down to see Silver with her arm jammed into the lizard's mouth, its teeth in her flesh but unable to reach me. Smudge tried to pry its mouth open as Alinta sat on its back, her arms wrapped around its head and her teeth sunk into its eye. Ferrari sat partially underneath its back end, holding its claws clear of me.

Blood sprayed over all of us. The lizard on my stomach sagged sideways in two pieces.

"Daisy!" Peach yelled, and Daisy raised her sword off my stomach and turned to the other lizard. Anise and Peach were struggling to hold it on its back as it thrashed. Daisy's sword flashed down as she cut the other lizard in two.

"Are you okay?" Silver asked as my allies cleared the lizard pieces off of me.

"I don't think so," I said. My whole front was soaked in blood. A lot of it was the lizard's, but a lot of it was mine. There was a ragged tear across my stomach, and so much more blood was coming out. I felt so cold already, and my skin prickled.

"But we killed the lizards," Peach said.

"Not before they killed Zinnia," Alinta said sofly.

"There has to be something we can do," Anise said.

Alinta took my hand. Smudge took the other one. Silver and Anise took theirs, and Ferrari and Daisy completed the circle. They clustered around me, some crying and some dry-eyed.

 _There's no better way to go out, is there? I have all my friends with me._ My hands felt warm, even if the rest of me was cold. It reminded me of an old, old song we weren't supposed to sing, one only our grandparents knew all the words to. _Let the circle be unbroken..._

* * *

 **Double chapter, so I can make sure I'm done in time! Also so there are fewer Tributes and the votes concentrate more.**

 **65th place: Velvet Tek- Eaten by lizard mutts**

 **These are the same mutts from before, even though I went with the term "mutt" here. It's just shorter. I used a wild vote for Velvet. She had one death vote and no one had two. I picked her because a lot of people didn't remember her and I thought that would mean she wouldn't get votes in the end. She did better than last Resurrection Games, since she died in the Bloodbath then. She did well in her first appearance. I just needed Bloodbaths that time. No one really disliked Velvet. She just got overlooked.**

 **64th place: Dylan Brooke- Dogpiled by lizard mutts**

 **Another Career curse victim. That seems to be fading, though, which is good for the rest of the Careers. We had two Dylans, so it was funny for me to see how the votes turned out with them. People preferred Dylan for his speech impediment and most people thought he had a cooler motivation, but it wasn't enough to elude the curse. He killed, like, a buttload of mutts though. So many there were only two left.**

 **63rd place: Zinnia Fraser- Blood loss from lizard mutt bite**

 **A lot of people thought it was time Silver's alliance had some trouble, which is fair. Zinnia got the short end of the stick because I guess she blended in the most of the younger Tributes. She was the most realistic of her trio of friends, and she did well in her first appearance. She made a lot out of what little she was given. I'm sad to see her go, but it's so wholesome to see how bravely her allies fought, even though two of them were twelve years old. They may not have much to give, but they'll do anything for an ally.**


	61. Moral Ambiguity

**ATTENTION: When Jayman submitted "Troy", I thought he meant Troy Cahill. I didn't know he had another Tribute named Troy Jenkins. He was on the Google doc (where is that, anyway? I didn't make it and I can't find it), so I'm putting him in. He SHOULD have been there from the start. In-story, he has been. He's just been really quiet until now. That said, does anyone know what story he was from? I can't write him very well if I don't know what he's like!  
**

* * *

Citlali Kenyi- District Nine female

Aliara probably wasn't planning anything. The knowledge of that lay in my stomach heavily. I wanted to think she was going to kill me as soon as I turned my back, and it was very likely a possibility, but I didn't know. I knew _I_ was willing to stab someone in the back, though. Maybe I should have felt guiltier about that, but that was the way things were. You couldn't trust anyone. It wasn't my fault someone wagered their life that I would.

When I saw a pile of sticks that just looked unnatural, I moved away. Someone had a camp somewhere around here. I didn't want allies, as Aliara found out. Other Tributes were nothing but trouble. But before I left, I poked around a tiny bit. Maybe there was something useful in this little camp. I found a water bottle under a pile of leaves and scooped it up.

"Hey!"

I jumped up and bolted the opposite direction as the voice was coming from. I heard the girl running after me and almost ran into her ally.

"Take it back. I'll just go," I said, shoving the bottle at the boy from Six. I looked back and forth between him and her. The boy didn't seem to want any trouble, and the girl was holding a knife, but she was looking at him. I turned to run, and that was when she tackled me from behind.

"What are you doing?!" the boy asked, leaning over us as the girl stuck her knife into my back and slashed it across my arms as I tried to bat her away.

"This is what has to be done!" the girl said.

"But..." the boy said, but he didn't stop her. He didn't stop her from killing me. Last time I died in second place. This time, there were just too many Tributes.

* * *

Jodie Jackson- District Seven female

This was the Arena for me. I loved the tall trees and how close together they were. It was like home, but it was also exotic and strange. The air was thick and wet, and the trees were covered in vines and flowers. I'd been in a jungle Arena before, oddly enough, but it would never lose its appeal.

I didn't think about the fact that there might be something else in the trees until I jumped from one tree to another and my hand grabbed something furry instead of something woody. A black panther yowled in my face and scampered farther up the tree. His movement bent the branch under me. I was already leaning precariously in my obvious attempt to shy away from the panther, and the combined movement toppled me out of the tree. I got my legs under me as I fell, like all Seven kids knew how to do.

But sometimes that wasn't enough. Sometimes you fall twenty feet and hop up like nothing, and sometimes you fall ten feet and bust your head open. As I hit the ground, all the impact went into the leg that hit first. I fell crookedly as the bone snapped and was driven up into my leg. I knew it was broken. When I got my head up, I saw it peeking white and red out of my skin.

 _Oh no. Oh no._ That wasn't something I could walk off. I couldn't walk. I couldn't _move_ without making it worse and maybe bleeding to death. I curled up with my abdominal muscles so my leg would be still as I tore a strip from my shirt and wrapped it around the area. It didn't hurt, which I knew wasn't good. I was in shock. You could die just from that.

 _Just stay calm. Don't squirm around. Lie still and let it stabilize. It'll get a little better, right? At least the open spot will clot up._ That was nothing but grasping at straws. Unless someone sent medicine fast, I was going to die. I'd die of shock, or blood loss, or infection, or dehydration. I lay there for what must have been the better part of an hour, scared to move and trying to figure out what I could possibly do.

The undergrowth ahead of me rustled. Something was coming, and there was nothing I could do. I scooted back a few feet to some taller grass and lay still, desperately hoping that it was a nice mutt that might somehow overlook me.

Patrick and Logan stepped into view. I'd seen them in the area before. It was never a problem, since their alliance didn't look into the trees, and I wasn't what they were patrolling for.

Logan saw me first. "Hey," he said, pointing me out to Patrick. Patrick stopped sharply and looked me over.

"What should we do about her?" Logan asked. I didn't say anything, half from fear and half from shock. From what I'd seen, Jay's allies were a nice bunch. They didn't run around killing kids.

Patrick shifted his weight from one leg to another. He looked over his shoulder, like someone was watching him. "I want to see my brother again," he finally said.

Logan nodded. "It's nothing I haven't seen before," he said. He saw Patrick's guilty expression. "Jay doesn't have to know everything."

* * *

Olivier Fowler- District Eleven male

 _What the Sam heck is that thing?_

Maybe it was a rooster, but I'd never seen a six-foot rooster with three feet. To make things worse, one of those feet was an elephant's, one was a tiger's, and one was a deer's. It also had one human arm, so maybe it wasn't an animal at all. It had a snake's tail and a peacock's neck. It had a rooster's beak, but that didn't stop it from talking to me.

"What is weightier than the Earth itself? What is higher than the heavens? What is fleeter than the wind? And what is more numerous than the grass?" it asked me.

"Oh man, is this one of those riddle tests? You're gonna kill me if I answer wrong, aren't you?" I asked. The mutt stared at me and said nothing.

"Okay, okay, I got this," I said. I didn't want to rush, but I didn't think the mutt would take kindly to me stalling. Also, I had no idea what the answer was supposed to be and never would. "Jupiter. Jupiter again. Light. And stars," I said.

"The mother is weightier than the Earth. The father is higher than heaven. The mind is fleeter than the wind. Our thoughts are more numerous than grass," the monster said.

 _How fat is that mother?_ I wondered. The monster raised its human hand, and I flinched away. A flame sprung from its palm and danced lightly on its hand. _That wasn't as bad as I thought. I wish I could do a trick like that._

"What is the highest refuge of virtue? What of fame? What of heaven? And what of happiness?" the monster asked.

 _Obviously it's going for a poetical feel,_ I reasoned. I thought a minute and composed my answers. "Righteousness is the highest refuge of virtue. Perfection is the highest virtue of fame. Heaven is its own refuge. And contentment is the highest refuge of happiness," I said.

"Liberality is the highest refuge of virtue, gift of fame, truth of heaven, and good behavior of happiness," the monster said. The flame in its hand grew into a huge fireball. I flinched again, but nothing happened.

"What is the best of all laudable things? What is the most valuable possession? What is the best of all gains? What is the best of all happiness?" the monster asked.

 _This is_ bogus! I thought. _There are like twenty possible answers._ I took a deep breath and gave it my best shot. "The best of all things is honor. The most valuable possession is integrity. The best of all gains is a friend. The best of all happiness is love," I said. I opened one eye and peeked at the monster.

"The best of all laudable things is skill. The best of all possessions is knowledge. The best of all gains is health. The best of all kinds of happiness is contentment," the monster said. The fireball lifted from his hand and shot toward my head.

 _That is a rip-off. Stupid fortune cookie monster. Well, at least I got a cool show._

* * *

Ember Steiner- District Two female

The next time the alliance sat down to eat, I took Miall's hand.

"Ooooooooooh," Priscilla hooted.

"You gonna get married?" Shui cracked.

"Floki can officiate. He's from Four," Priscilla said.

"That's just captains. We're not _all_ fishermen," Floki said.

"That's an urban legend anyway. Captains can't marry couples," Shui said.

"We're not getting married," Miall said. "We're just in a relationship."

"Yeah, we can't rush things," I said. Like Miall said, this was the Hunger Games. We could steal a moment when the opportunity came, but we had to keep our heads.

"You all need some time alone? A separate sleeping area, maybe?" Floki said.

"It's okay. We'll be quiet," Miall snarked back.

"This is the time to do it. They give us that stuff so we don't get our periods," Priscilla said.

"Too much information," Miall said.

"I'm just being safe," Priscilla said. "It would be pretty funny if a Career went into the Games and _started_ a life."

"How about we go get some air?" I asked. I got up and pulled Miall after me.

We sat on a log at the edge of camp. As he sat down, I impulsively leaned over and pecked his cheek.

"What was that?" he asked.

"We might not get another chance. This all might end tomorrow. I wanted to have that much to rememeber it by," I said.

Miall leaned over and pecked me back. "Back at you," he said.

"The stars are nice tonight," I said, looking up at them.

"There's Cassiopeia," Miall said, and he pointed at a w-shaped cluster.

"Shui knows all that stuff. He was always the brainy one," I said.

"You know about the important things," Miall said. "There's more to life than books."

"Sometimes I wonder if there's more than the Games," I said.

"You think you'd rather have been a pretty homemaker, maybe?" Miall asked.

"Not a homemaker," I said, and I wrinkled my nose. "Maybe not a gladiator, though."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll have multiple winners. They already did a crazy Survivor year and multiple resurrection years," Miall said.

"Then I could be a gladiator _and_ have a family," I said.

There was a rustle over us, and we both looked up. Priscilla peered impishly down at us.

" _Miall and Ember, sitting in a tree_..."

* * *

 **62nd place: Citlali Kenyi- Stabbed by Hemi**

 **I think Citlali got picked because most people didn't know her. She did really well in her first story, so that's the more definitive version of her. This time, there were too many people for her to show what she could do.**

 **61st place: Jodie Jackson- Stabbed by Patrick**

 **The Jayhawks are in general some cool bros. However, Patrick IS still a Career. He's not exceptionally aggressive, but he wants to get home and he knows what has to be done. Jodie would have died anyway, and it would have been slower otherwise. Jodie got overlooked this time, and that was all it took to kill her. I liked her, and I wished we could have seen more.**

 **60th place: Olivier Fowler- Killed by a stupid fortune cookie navagunjara**

 **There are a lot of chimera monsters in Indian myth. I mashed up some different stories for this encounter, since navagunjaras don't ask riddles. They're also made of nine animals total (there's also a bull and a lion in there) The riddles ARE Indian, though, since they're from The Mahabharata. Olivier is really cool, but he was hamstrung by not having allies this time. He's charismatic and he needs someone to show his magic to. Since that didn't happen, I made sure he got to see some cool monster magic before he died.**

 **The TRIBUTE LIST has been moved to chapter 2 so it's easier to find**

 **NOTE TO SELF: do cannons next chapter.**


	62. Easy Come, Easy Go

**DYLAN AQUARIUS-** Amphilia Fortune

Good riddance to another kid-killer.

 **AUTUMN KANE-** Jeanie Clay

It always made me sad to lose someone from Nine. It was superstitious, but I felt like I couldn't be lucky enough to be the last one left. Someone had to be.

 **NATALIE ANDREZ-** Madison English

She seemed like another overlooked Career. So many Careers were dying. We needed to get back into shape.

 **AURORA EVERGROVE-** Smudge Kells

She was from Twelve, too. Nothing came easy for us.

 **PEPPER CRIMSON-** Vextrix Webb

 _I don't even remember her._

 **VESTER MORTANA-** Martha Lewis

 _I barely remember him._

 **JAYDEN CHADSEY-** Valerie Lenn

 _There's a huge threat gone._

 **TUESDAY ERELLE-** Ember Steiner

 _She was that weirdo with the camera._

 **AUSTIN DALLAS-** Jay Dallas

Every time I fail him. Even if I won, I would have to see him die over and over until I followed him.

 **MARLEY XANDER-** Daisy Stem

 _Aww, she was so cool! So funny, too._

 **THEO KASIUS-** Shui Steiner

 _Why are so many Careers dying?_

 **FILLY KOZLOV-** Addy Child

 _He was the one who knew what he was doing. Our alliance lost a lot of its maturity._

 **MATI BERLIN-** Logan Quinn

 _I tried to save you. If I was nicer before, would they have sent you something? Why couldn't I do something right, just this once?_

 **ALIARA BAVIER-** Dayley Harrvis

No one knew much about her. She was from Twelve, though. We never even knew each other.

 **VELVET TEK-** Volvo Courvaile

Six had such terrible luck. Velvet had terrible luck, too. She'd died so many times.

 **DYLAN BROOKE-** Floki Grimm

A whole new generation of Careers had come since I died. He was barely born when I went into the Games. It went on forever.

 **ZINNIA FRASER-** Alinta Fintan

Zinnia was my best friend. If I won, I was going to make them bring her back. They'd _have_ to, since I would be a Victor.

 **CITLALI KENYI-** Lyann Levett

She looked like she knew what she had to do. I wondered why she didn't do it.

 **JODIE JACKSON-** Desiree Redwood

I didn't know why that one hit me so hard. Maybe it was her smile.

 **OLIVIER FOWLER-** Nash Forger

He pulled a rose out of a toilet paper roll for me in the Capitol. Maybe he wasn't really dead. He just disappeared.

* * *

Silver Flower- District Eight female

"Is she going to be okay?" Alinta asked, peering over Anise's shoulder as she bandaged my arm.

"If she doesn't get infected," Anise said.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Alinta asked. That wasn't why I was crying. Zinnia was dead. All of this was for nothing. Behind Alinta and Anise, I could see Ferrari high up in a tree. She snapped a flower from its stem and tossed it down at Smudge's upraised arms. She climbed down and they set it on Zinnia's chest.

"No," I said. "Let's go." I wanted to lie there and not think about anything, but until we left the area, Zinnia would be there.

"Let's stop here and rest," Anise said when we were a short distance away. I sat down against a tree and rested my head against the wood.

"Hey ladies, let's see if we can find some more fruit trees," Ferrari said. Alinta and Smudge followed her, holding hands. Peach went after them.

"It's not your fault," Anise said.

"It's not _your_ fault. You don't believe it any more than I do," I said.

"You did everything you could. Look at your arm," Anise said.

"That doesn't matter," I said.

"Just try to get better," Anise said. She bent over to check my bandage and I saw Calvin about to stab her in the back.

"Look out!" I screamed, and I tackled her sideways. Calvin's knife thudded into the dirt. I wrapped myself around his leg and tripped him up. Anise rolled over and came to help, but as she did, Calvin stabbed me in the chest.

"Go away!" Anise yelled, shoving him back. He tried to run at her and I tangled him all up again. He kicked me in the side, then looked up at the sound of our other allies crashing toward us. He darted away into the jungle.

"They just never stop," Ferrari said as Anise tried to bandage my new wound.

"Take care of everyone," I said, looking at Anise and then at Peach. Nobody said any useless platitudes about me getting better. They all knew I didn't even entirely _want_ to get better. I didn't want to win anyway. This was the way I would have picked to go out.

* * *

Soya Tores- District Eleven female

Valerie and Jason hadn't seen me. If I just stayed quiet and didn't move, I might be okay. Filly always used to say we should stick together. I only went a little away from camp. I was just chasing a butterfly. A beautiful, bright purple butterfly, and that might get me killed.

Jason must have gotten hurt somewhere. He was walking all hunched over, like he rode a horse too long and he couldn't put his legs together anymore. Unfortunately, that put him right at eye level with me.

"Hey," he said, tilting his head toward me. I shot backwards out of the ferns I was hiding in and ran toward a skinny tree they wouldn't be able to climb. Jason didn't come after me, but Valerie easily caught me.

"All right, kid. You got allies, right?" she asked pinning me to the dirt with a foot on my chest.

"No," I said. I wasn't supposed to lie, but I wasn't going to tell them about my friends.

"You're braver than you look," Valerie said, and she gave me an admiring smirk. "That was really a rhetorical question. We know you do. So where are they?"

"You're going to kill me anyway. I'm not telling," I said. I'd come a long way from the spoiled little rich girl I used to be. I was still scared, but now I knew there were things worth being brave for.

"You're right. I am. But it can go a lot faster," Valerie said.

"Go ahead," I said, hoping she'd get mad and do it quick, even though I knew she wouldn't.

"You want to help me pick? We can cut off your fingers one at a time. I can gouge out both your eyes and you'll still be able to talk. I can unspool your intestines and we'll see how long they are. Or you can tell us where they are, we'll all go down there, and you can die together," Valerie said.

I was shaking all over, and tears streaked my face. "I'm not going to help you," I said.

"Fine," Valerie said. "I'm gonna start with the eye thing." She brought her sword up, and I whimpered. It flashed down toward me, and I shut my eyes. I felt a slight pressure on my eye and braced for the pain, but it never came.

"You got me," Valerie said as I opened my eye and saw the metal an inch from my face. "I wasn't going to do it. I was hoping you'd break. You really were brave." She did it quick after all.

* * *

Troy Jenkins- District Six male

There was a lifeless pallor over my alliance. We were all sitting around a fire, looking at an empty pot. There was no rice in the pot, since none of us had any appetite. The rice that wasn't in the pot wasn't spicy and aromatic and made with love, since Mati wasn't here.

"So... I saw this cool fruit a while back. It was purple and it had these little red dots. I was gonna eat it, but then I was like 'ooooh no. I'm not falling for _that_ again!'," I said. Anything to lighten the mood.

Logan laughed harder than I knew he actually meant. "At least one of us has brains," he said.

"I tried eating one of the limes once. They smelled so good. They don't taste so good," Patrick said.

"One time my friend told me it was impossible to eat a spoonful of cinnamon, so I bet him a pocketknife I could," Logan said.

"What happened?" Patrick asked.

"First it dried up like I had a mouthful of dust. Then I kind of snorted, and it went all up in my lungs. I still swallowed it, though. So I got the pocketknife. I couldn't smell for a week, but I got the pocketknife," Logan said.

"One time I ate a worm so Austin would freak out. He freaked out. 10/10, would do again." None of us expected Jay to join in. He always took these things the hardest.

"A worthy endeavor," I said, and I stood up. "I'mma see if I can get one of them coconuts way up there. I know those are safe. And they taste better than worms."

Palm trees were weird to climb. They were usually skinny, and their bark stuck out all pointy so you had a lot of handholds. I shimmied my way up, scraping my legs against the rough bark. At the top, I stuffed two coconuts in my shirt and shimmied back down.

"Wow Troy, you're looking fine," Logan said. I looked down and realized the coconuts looked like two very misshapen and lopsided breasts.

"Ha, ha," I said. We'd been without women a long time. Or really, like four days. We weren't particularly patient men.

"Here, grab boob," I said, and I tossed Logan a coconut. I tossed the other to Patrick, who caught it with a flashy backhand. "I'll grab some more."

I looked up just as something smashed into my head from above. It was like someone dropped a hammer on my head. In the instant before my brain shut off, I realized I'd been slain by a coconut. Talk about black comedy.

* * *

Dayley Harrvis- District Twelve male

I had never seen such a beautiful bird. I'd heard of peacocks in books, but nothing was like the real thing. There were eleven of the lovely birds in front of me. Two were white, and the others were made of every color in the world. They shone like jewels as they fanned their feathers gracefully. I felt like I was being blessed just being allowed to be with them.

"You guys want some fruit?" I asked. I tossed them some of the grapes I'd picked. One of the birds swished forward and pecked up a grape. I shouldn't have been wasting food, but there was so much of it, and they were so pretty.

 _Oh, that one dropped a feather._ I didn't want to disturb the peacocks, but if they moved away, I was going to take that feather. It was a silly thing to want, but it wouldn't hurt anything. It wasn't like I was going to pluck it from one of the birds.

"Here, have some more grapes." I tossed another handful and crouched low to the ground. The same bird that took the first grape tiptoed closer, until it was so close I could have touched it. I would have tried, but I didn't want to spook it. I watched the colors in its feathers shimmy as its neck bobbed up and down.

 _People in the Capitol must have these as pets,_ I thought. What a wonderful thing to be able to have. If I was a Victor, I could have a peacock all the time. I'd bring him out on walks and let everyone pet him, and when he dropped a feather, I would give it away.

The peacock backed nearer to the others, and they started to move around rhythmically. They looked up at the sky and ruffled their tails.

 _They're dancing. I bet that means something._ I backed away, expecting some horrible mutt to appear. When nothing happened, the tension racketed up until I was about ready to wet my pants. There was a thunderous noise, and I ducked behind a tree. I huddled against the trunk and waited for disaster.

A raindrop hit my nose, and I jerked back, bonking my head on the tree. _Oh, it's just a raindrop,_ I thought. I peeked up and saw the gray clouds. _That's what they were looking at. Goodness, scaredycat. It was just rain._

* * *

 **59th place: Silver Flower- Stabbed by Calvin**

 **Silver is always controversial. A lot of people call her a Mary Sue. I can see why someone might think that, but I don't consider her one, for one very important reasons. A Mary Sue is hyper-competent at everything. Silver is, well, not. She's a Purity Sue, to be sure, but she's not good enough to be a Mary Sue. She has a ton of heart and very little else. And so she died, with her heart all over inside her chest. Her surviving allies with surely carry on her name.**

 **58th place: Soya Tores- Stabbed by Valerie**

 **Soya's arc was supposed to be that she learned to care more about other people and appreciate what she had. She started out scared and timid, but that didn't stop her from defying two Careers to keep her friends safe. She may not have won, but she was the bravest. She was clearly voted out only because she was too small to win. No one disliked her that I could tell.**

 **57th place: Troy Jenkins- Hit by falling coconut**

 **Funny story. When Jayman submitted "Troy", I thought he meant Troy Cahill. I didn't realize until into the Arena that he had two Troys, one from outside my stories. I added him in, because no fair getting left out because I made a mistake. However, three people already voted for him to die, even before I added him. This was because he was on the Google doc someone else made. So I have to kill him as soon as I add him, which seems kind of sad. The people who voted against him didn't dislike him as much as they thought the other Jayhawks were cool. I thought about killing him by fruit again, but that's so mean. Anyway, hello Troy and goodbye Troy.**


	63. Charge!

Calvin Heidi- District One male

I wasn't the good guy in all this. Everyone thought they were good people. We all thought when _we_ did wrong things, it was because we had a reason. Nothing was easier to justify that your own sins. I was past that. My sins were sins, and there wasn't any way to make them right. I killed children and I planned to kill more. There reached a point, though, where I had done so many wrongs that it hardly seemed to matter if I did more. They all nagged at me, but they started to blur.

The less I deserved to win, the more I had to. It was too late for me to be the good guy, but I had one chance to make it all something close to worthwhile. If I won, I could give it all away. And I wanted to give it all away. I didn't want anything to do with all that blood money. All it would do was remind me of all I did to get it. I could give it all away and even though I did nothing but evil in my life, something good could still come of it. So many people never had a chance to get what I could get, and it was because they wouldn't do what I did. If I won the Games and made it so people who deserved that money could have it, didn't that mean I was doing it for a good cause?

No, it didn't mean I was doing it for a good cause. I was doing it because I didn't want to die, and I was selfish enough to let someone else take my place. Ends didn't justify means. That was something people said when they wanted to justify their means. I could still leave a good legacy, but I couldn't lie to myself that I would ever be a good person again.

When I got a good look at the girl, I was glad to see it was Shinju. Even I didn't have to feel bad murdering the vampire girl. Some of the Tributes said she'd turned over a new leaf. If she was anything like they said, she would know as well as I did there were things you didn't come back from. I waited until she got close, then tensed.

"Shinju, look out!" someone screamed from above me. I looked up as someone dropped onto me, knocking me flat. The force of the impact almost knocked me out, and whoever fell on me ground their foot into my kidney as they scrambled off. I flipped myself onto my back just as the girl with the bionic arm grabbed my dropped knife and stuck it between my ribs. I tried to grab her arm, and she dragged the knife across my chest, leaning on it to grind it in deeper.

 _Why would she do that?_ I wondered. She risked her life to save the girl even Careers looked down on. What did she in Shinju that was worth saving? I wondered if she might have seen it in me, too.

* * *

Jay Dallas- District Eleven male

All I had left was Logan and Patrick, and I was relieved. Through the past few days, I'd lost one beloved friend after another, and I'd finally reached the point where I didn't have to be afraid anymore. Mati and Austin died because I failed them. I didn't have to worry about Patrick and Logan. They could take care of themselves. If they died, it would hurt as much as every one of the other friends I lost, but I wouldn't have to blame myself. I didn't have to be a leader anymore. We could all defend ourselves. They weren't here for protection. They were just here because we were friends.

I felt deliriously light. I remembered everyone I'd lost, and I knew if I got out of here, they would come crashing back in. But now, in the Arena, I'd done everything I could. They were gone, and I couldn't do anything more.

"You think one of us will actually win this time?" I asked as we mixed some plain rice.

"We might," Patrick said. "We've gotten this far."

"Weren't you like third place once? What are you worried about?" Logan asked.

"I was never _first_ place," I said.

"Hey man, I was _second_ place. I am _king_ of the losers," Patrick said.

"I topped out at like, tenth. I suck," Logan said. He leaned back and looked up at a cluster of kiwis hanging near the top of a tree. "Hey, think I can get those?"

"I can't. I'm too heavy," Patrick said.

"Well look at Mr. Buff Pants over here with his muscles," Logan said. He started to clamber up the tree. "That just means you can't do this."

There was a rustle, then a thump. Logan tumbled from the tree with a black lump sitting on his chest. Patrick sprang into action, grabbing the panther by its scruff and kicking its side.

 _No. Not again. Why is this happening?_ The panther let go of Logan's throat just as I reached it, shoving it away by its side. It coiled around and hissed at us before disappearing into another tree.

 _Please not again. I can't do this again._ I tried to hold the blood inside Logan's throat, and he coughed when I pressed too hard.

"What do you think of that?" he wheezed. "You climb a tree and get eaten by a panther. Couldn't have seen that one coming, huh?"

"I'm sorry," I said.

"What for? You didn't do anything. Maybe next time," Logan said. The light went out of his eyes and the blood stopped trickling from his throat.

I thought that was over. I thought I wouldn't have to see another friend die. But Logan topped out at ten, didn't he? And I made it to fifth. But this time it really _was_ the last time. Patrick made it to second. The last time a Jayhawk died, he would be the only one who had to watch.

* * *

Cavendar Jones- District Eight female

Everyone wants to do something great. We all think we're special, and we want to do something to show that to everyone else. I always thought it would be traveling for me. I wanted to see all of Panem and all the different people who lived there. It was funny that I'd gotten closer to that than most people. I'd been in two separate jungles already. That was two more than Panem even had. I did feel a little put out that I had to be in two Arenas and they were both the same thing.

I pushed through a bush and almost bumped into something huge and gray. I thought it was a rock at first, but rocks didn't have legs. Then the rock turned its head to the side and looked at me through a tiny eye. The eye wasn't so scary, but the horn was.

"Oh, wow." I'd never seen a rhinoceros before. Not for real, anyway. They looked so big and scary in books. They looked even bigger and scarier in real life.

I raised my hands apologetically as the rhinoceros turned around with surprising speed. "Hey, it's cool. It's cool. I didn't mean to," I said as I backed away. The rhinoceros let me a get a good ten paces away before it came at me. I screamed and sprinted away for all I was worth, checking over my shoulder at the rhinoceros. It was catching up like I was standing still, and once it got to me, it could stomp me dead in a second.

Right before it would have reached me, the rhinoceros turned to the side and rumbled to a stop. I wasn't getting fooled that easily, so I climbed a tree and looked down at it. The rhinoceros nosed a clump of grass and tore off a mouthful.

 _That's it? You scare the poop out of me and just leave? You just did that to scare me?_

That one must have been an untouched animal. A mutt would have stomped me, or grabbed me with its tentacles or whatever. What was grazing peacefully beneath me was a genuine Black Rhinoceros. If I remembered my books correctly, they were extremely rare. I didn't know much about the world outside Panem, but I knew that much.

 _Most people never get the opportunity to see something like this,_ I thought as I watched it. It didn't make the Arena worthwhile, but it was still a moment to remember. Very few people got to see a Black Rhinoceros. Even fewer almost got stomped by one.

* * *

 **56th place: Calvin Heidi- stabbed by Sparkil**

 **Calvin became sort of a default villain. That wasn't because he was mean. I just didn't have many Careers who actually wanted to kill people (Shui isn't a Career, Patrick only wants to live, Amphilia hates Careers...), so I had to use someone. He was conflicted from the start, and he started to waver toward amorality. What he did always bothered him. He did want to make something good of this, since he knew he wasn't a hero. And one more falls to the Career curse.**

 **55th place: Logan Quinn- Mauled by panther**

 **You know what this story really needed? Another rapid-fire Jayhawk death. Well they won't be rapid-fire anymore, since there are only two left. Jay has a maximum of only one death he will blame himself for. Logan was always a supporting character, so I'm not surprised he died. He lasted longer than most of his allies, but that's just the capricious nature of the votes.**

 **On a fun note, Silver and I have started doing dramatic readings of my stories. We're starting with Pray's, and we've gotten through the Reapings. I'm currently trying to find a way to put the recordings online. If anyone wants to join in, that would be super cool! Otherwise she and I each have to do twelve different voices. My voice is seriously sore right now because I don't talk much and just doing half an hour of reading fried it.**


	64. Sisterly Love

Jason Lenn- District One male

Valerie wasn't usually like this. She volunteered for that old yarn about pride and honor. She never went in for the killing kids part. It was just something she knew might have to happen. This time, she was different. She hunted down young Tributes and scared Soya half to death before she finished it.

"Something bothering you?" I asked. I winced as I shifted on the log I was sitting on. It still hurt to move, or to do anything. Pain radiated from my crotch all through my guts. I didn't think any of my organs were broken, but Jayden must have done something. I was mortified to tell Valerie, but I suspected my testicle was ruptured. There was something she couldn't understand about the idea of my most masculine part broken and leaking everywhere. I'd never in my life thought about whether or not I wanted kids. I realized now that I dearly wanted to be _able_ to.

"No. Why?" Valerie asked.

"You seem... grumpier than usual," I said.

"Is this about Soya?" Valerie asked.

"For a second, I thought you were really going to do it," I said.

Valerie stared into the fire. "I'll do whatever it takes," she said.

"We'll find them eventually. You didn't have to get it out of her then," I said.

"We don't have much time," she said, and she looked at me. "You think I don't notice? You're still limping. Something inside you is broken. Once it gets infected and gets into your blood, there will be nothing we can do. We don't have time. We need to get you home _now."_

"What about you?" I asked.

"That doesn't matter," she said.

"Why am I valuable but not you?" I asked, rising halfway.

"Because I got you into this!" she yelled, and her eyes flashed. "I was your cool big sister who you wanted to be just like. I got you killed once and I won't do it again!"

"I made my own decisions. I don't do everything because you did it," I said.

"Would you have gone if I didn't go first?" I asked.

"I don't know. It doesn't matter. That's not what happened," I said.

"That's why I'm not valuable." A tear slid down Valerie's cheek. "I can deal with killing people. I can deal with killing kids. I can never come back from killing my own brother."

She ran into the jungle. I watched her go. Valerie liked to be alone when she was emotional. I waited for her to come back on her own and watched the fire burn down to embers.

A shadow fell across the dying coals. I turned around as Miall plunged his sword down at my chest.

"Valerie!" I screamed at the last moment. Suddenly, I was on the ground, covered in blood. I felt cool air inside my chest as I gasped for breath. Through blurred vision, I saw Valerie leap over me and sprint after Miall, who was fleeing into the distance. If she caught him, she'd do everything she didn't do to Soya.

* * *

Nairobi Ellis- District Six female

Things were so much different from last time I was in the Arena. The Careers were so much smarter. It used to be all they knew how to do was fight. Now they learned how to make shelters and make fishing lines and everything they needed to survive. Not that it mattered here. We had everything we needed. They could spend all their time hunting.

The Arenas were different, too. They used to be simple plains or forests or hills. There wasn't nearly the amount of work and detail that this place had. They'd started making monsters. When I went in, the monsters were still new. Sometimes they didn't even work. There were terrible things here, things I wouldn't even have imagined. One night I cowered in the roots of a tree, covered in mud and shivering as a monster walked by. It was a horrible monkey-like thing with glittering claws and three snake heads on long, searching necks. Six eyes were looking for me, each of them protruding and rolling independently in their sockets. One of the mouths opened to smell the air. Its entire interior was covered in curved fangs. I clung to the root I was wrapped around and trembled as it passed.

All of Panem must be different by now. Even if I got home, I would't know anyone. I would be a living fossil. Twenty years had gone by. Technology was different. Social mores had developed. The children I knew had their own children. I felt like some sort of vampire who had finally crawled out of her grave and into a strange new world.

It was already so hard for someone like me to win. I didn't win the first time, and the Tributes were so much stronger now. Even worse, no one remembered me. I was a ghost brought back merely out of curiosity. Sponsors wouldn't want to help someone they didn't even remember. I was alone in Panem, and I was alone in the Arena.

If I ever did get out, my life would be entirely new. That was scary, but there was a bright side. All those years ago, there was a fire that burned down a factory. It was an accident, but no one believed it. That was how I got voted into the Games the first time. By now, no one remembered that. For the ones that did, I didn't think they'd be mad anymore. Even if I _had_ done it on purpose, I'd paid the price. I'd died for it. That had to be enough.

* * *

Lisette Crowley- District Three female

"I can't believe they really taste like peanuts."

Violet had finally convinced me to eat a bug. It was a fat white grub. I could almost pretend it was a boiled sliver of potato. I felt weirdly guilty that I liked it more than plain boiled potato. The grub actually tasted buttery, and I liked the feel of the smooth skin. It felt so unnatural to have its tiny hard head in my mouth, but other than that, it was good.

"Nuts. Only worms under here," Violet said as she peeked under a rock she'd overturned.

"Can you eat those?" I asked.

"They really do taste gross," Violet said.

"Not to be rude, but if you think they're gross, they must be really gross," I said.

"They keep wiggling even when they're in your throat," Violet said.

"Okay, that's gross," I said.

"Sometimes they have littler worms inside them that move into your guts and you poop pieces of them out," Violet continued.

I looked at her with horror and disgust. "Like... little worms in your poop?"

"I hear some of the poorer people in Eleven and Twelve get that when they eat dirty food," Violet said.

"Like dirty bugs?" I asked. I had an urge to force my fingers down my throat and puke the maggot back up.

"I bet most Victors have parasites when they first get back. They'll fix it in the Capitol," Violet said.

"I think I'll go back to the tree now," I said. I held my stomach as I walked. Maybe if I just ate fruit I'd be safe. If I didn't eat the skin it should be clean, right?

The Games were horrible, but I loved the Arena. It was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen. If I got out, my talent would be making art of all the lovely flowers and trees. I loved the way water gathered on the leaves and formed pools in crooks in the wood.

As I approached our tree, I heard Violet behind me. I turned around and waved at her.

"I'm going to beat-" I started. My eyes registered a faint blur before a knife hit my forehead. In the instant before I fell, I saw a girl clap her hands to her mouth in horror and start to run.

 _She looks like she didn't mean to,_ I thought. _Then why did she do it?_

* * *

 **54th place: Jason Lenn- Stabbed by Miall**

 **Valerie and Jason have yo-yoed wildly in votes from the start. It's a little surprising it was Jason who got enough, since Valerie just killed like four people, but there's a reason. People thought Jason was going to die anyway, since his guts were soup inside him. According to my research testicular rupture doesn't kill you, but that didn't seem to factor in infection. Your guts are inside you, so I don't know if infection would get in, but it definitely crippled Jason. I took this opportunity to show Valerie's perspective. Jason learned his lesson about volunteering, so this time it was just a matter of votes. It was only -1 vote, too- they're still spread out. But more people are dying. They're bound to consolidate soon.**

 **53rd place: Lisette Crowley- Knife thrown by Ever**

 **Lisette also only had -1. Someone picked her, probably more or less and random, and that's all it took. It's nice she got to spend some time in such a pretty Arena and be friends with Violet. It was all an misunderstanding, too. Ever heard someone yell suddenly and reacted like a paranoid Tribute. Unfortunately, she rarely misses.**

 **We have the Reapings up for the dramatic readings! They're at** **: SLASH SLASH clyp DOT it SLASH user SLASH m5fyfxyh**


	65. Vengeance

Miall Piscot- District One male

Killing one Career was lucky enough. I wasn't going to press my luck with another, especially when she knew I was here. Honestly, I'd count myself lucky just to get away from Valerie. She wasn't coming for a fight. She was coming for a kill. She wasn't even bothering to be quiet as she crashed through the bushes after me. She was screaming as she ran, and when I looked over my shoulder at her, her sword was already out.

If I got close to camp, my allies would help me. Valerie was right on my tail, and I was still a short run away when I had to turn and face her so she wouldn't stab me in the back. I put my sword up defensively just as she swung wildly, and our swords clashed. I winced and stepped back at the shockwave, and Valerie leaned in harder. She tried to shove me back and I shoved back at her.

"Priscilla!" I yelled. "Ember?"

Foliage snapped as my allies came up behind us. Valerie saw them coming over my shoulder and I smiled. She'd have to go now. She couldn't fight all of us. She'd be lucky if she got away, since we'd already been running and my allies were fresh.

Valerie took a step back, then right straight at me. I put out my sword, but she didn't stop. She ran right into it, impaling herself under her right ribs. The force of her hitting me knocked me on my back, but that didn't matter. She couldn't live through that. Only when the back of my neck hit her twisted sword did I realize that wasn't her plan.

"Murderer!" Valerie screamed, and I wondered if she was talking about me or herself. She certainly looked as guilty as she did angry. She pushed my head down on the blade and bit my throat, tearing at it like a dog.

Valerie was lifted off me suddenly as Priscilla bodily threw her sideways. She tried weakly to get up, but fell back in her own puddle of blood.

"Leave him alone, bitch!" Priscilla shrieked as she stuck her sword down through Valerie's heart. Behind her, Ember crouched down by me.

"Fix it!' Ember yelled to Shui, who was waiting a respectful distance away.

He didn't even move. "Too late," he said.

Priscilla joined Ember, and both girls tried to hold the blood inside my neck. Salty tears hit my wounds, and they stung.

"Big brother," Priscilla pleaded, and she couldn't say anything else.

"Don't kill my sister," I whispered to Ember. I turned to Priscilla. "Don't kill my girlfriend."

Ember laughed through her tears. " _Now_ we're a couple?"

 _Hope springs eternal._ Even though so many of us die, we still volunteer. Even though we know it will never come true, we still fall in love.

I took both their hands in mine. "I love you both."

* * *

Valerie Lenn- District One female

You can't go back from what I did. Blood will have blood. Jason's blood was repaid, Miall's blood was spilled, and my blood went back to everyone I killed. Let someone win who deserved it. Let my brother rest in piece. And let this end here for both of us.

* * *

Sita Alaya- District Five male

My pack had a can of beans, a bottle of water, some iodine and some bug spray. That last item didn't seem very important, but I knew what happened if you were in a hot, wet environment with lots of mosquitoes. Maybe they vaccinated us with all that other stuff they did, and maybe they didn't. I wasn't taking the risk. The only downside to bug spray was smelling like chemicals. Worth it.

More importantly, my pack had everything I needed. I didn't even _need_ the can and bottle, but they would be very helpful. I wasn't much of a tree climber, but I didn't have to be. Two cylindrical objects meant two pulleys. Mechanically, I would only weigh a small portion of my actual weight. It also meant I could climb a tree almost no one else could, since I rigged up a winch so I could haul myself a long way up the trunk to the first branch twenty feet off the ground.

Step one was to get myself into the tree. Step two was to make sure no one else got close to me. I didn't have any rope, but I had vines. I took more vines and draped them all over the tree, so they would look natural and the tree would look easy to climb. Then I hauled myself back up and tied the vines to the branches so they would look sturdy. _Then_ I frizzed the vines against the branches so they were worn half through. Anyone who tried to come after me would either snap the vine right away or get halfway up and fall.

Step three was to ensure myself a stable food supply. I set tiny snares all over the tree, baiting them with shiny little bits of the top of my bean can. I could catch little birds or mice that way. If I caught birds, I could probably use their feathers for something.

I was using my water bottle for a pulley, but I could still have a water supply. My backpack was waterproof and lined with plastic. I scooped the whole backpack full of water from a little creek and brought it with me up the tree. There I treated it and let it sit. A little brainpower, and I had everything I needed.

* * *

Lyann Levett- District Nine female

As I reached up to pick a lemon, I realized I was being hunted. My first thought was to look around and try to see who it was, but instinct took over and I bolted in a random direction. If it was really a hunter, they already knew where I was. Looking for them would only let them knew I knew.

No arrows or spears came flying in my direction, so I was lucky enough to have a Career with a short-range weapon coming after me. When I was able to take a peek behind me, I saw it was Madison. She'd hardly said anything during training, which told me she was one of the dangerous ones. She'd been laying low, and now she was ready to go. I had one advantage in that my legs were a little longer than hers. That, and better motivation.

I was hoping Madison would give up and find someone else, but she obviously favored wolves over cheetahs. She kept after me, neither of us giving or taking much ground. I tried weaving through the trees, but of course she'd studied agility. Weaving only slowed me down, and she started to catch up. I went back to running straight and hoped I didn't come run into a river or canyon.

 _Why won't you give up?_ It had to have been at least a minute, and we were both still as close to sprinting as we could be. I heard her panting as much as I was, but she still ran. My sides ached and my throat was dry and raw. My legs burned like my muscles were about to give in. There was no other option for me but running. Once I couldn't run anymore, I would die.

I looked around desperately for any sort of cover. If we'd come to a large river, I would have taken my chances in the current. If it was a cliff I thought I might survive, I would jump. But there was nothing but trees. I veered toward the smaller trees, hoping they would be thicker and provide more cover. Madison charged after me, and I thought she was catching up.

At last, I saw something that gave me hope. A thick swathe of trees had grown so close together that their exposed roots had tangled into a thicket. I was skinny as a rail from years of thin living. Madison wasn't fat, not by any means, but she _was_ ripped. She was way wider than I was, especially with her voluptuous hips. I'd never paid much attention to that in ladies before, but I found myself endlessly grateful that Madison was built like a lounge singer.

I leaped into the air and dove headfirst into a small opening in the root snarl, scraping my skin off as I wiggled further in. As I disappeared into the roots, I heard Madison's whip crack. It hit the bottom of my exposed leg, scraping open half a dozen bloody stripes. I used the blood as lubrication to wiggle in even faster, until I was entirely out of reach. I kept pushing in farther, contorting and pushing smaller roots aside.

Madison started in after me. I could barely see behind me in the cramped tunnel. She got in up to her waist, then stopped. She wiggled around and tried to pull herself farther, but nothing happened. She made a frustrated noise as she looked after me.

 _Ha ha. That's what you get for being perfectly proportioned._

* * *

 **52nd place: Valerie Lenn- Stabbed by Priscilla**

 **Valerie and Jason moved around a lot in the votes. This time things actually settled clearly. Valerie became something of a default villain because I needed someone to kill people and that necessarily brings unpopularity. She knew she wasn't a hero. She could have gone full villain and maybe hacked her way to victory, but instead she turned to the person she put first from the start. Jason was always her priority, so much so that when he was gone, she was ready to die.**

 **51st place: Miall Piscot- Bled to death because of Valerie's attack**

 **Miall vacillated in votes toward the end. He ended up with enough, so the fight went this way. Miall wasn't a big player. He preferred to stay defensive and keep to himself usually. He was out hunting because he didn't want Priscilla to have to kill people, so that one kind of backfired. He knew romance was illogical, but he also knew he wanted it. He moved slowly into a relationship with Ember and would have kept going if they hadn't been cut short. I thought this might happen, so I made sure to get lots of Miall and Ember POVs before this. He'll be missed by her and by Priscilla. We shall see if they honor his dying request.**


	66. Manu

Celestial Yeager- District Four female

It was raining so hard. I'd set up camp by the big river so I would be able to get water, but I kept having to back away because the bank was eroding. The river was dangerously thick. I wasn't a good swimmer on the best of days, even if I was from Four. There was no way anyone could swim in that. Anyone that got caught in that was dead.

Even though I was scared of the water, I was absolutely delighted when an otter shot by. I hadn't seen an otter in so many years. I'd almost forgotten how wonderful they were. I barely caught a glimpse of the little river weasel before it ducked back under the water and was gone, but there was no mistaking my favorite animal.

 _They put it in here just for me,_ I thought. It couldn't be a coincidence that there was an otter in the Arena, and right by me. _Do otters even live in the rainforest?_ The otter certainly looked at home, shooting down the water on its smooth belly, its tiny legs paddling. The head appeared again, and the otter scrambled at the far edge of the water. It dragged itself out of the river and waddled toward the trees.

 _That's weird. Otters don't usually go far from the river,_ I thought. Motion caught my eye farther down the bank. A river turtle was creeping away from the river as well. Far up the river, I saw a tiny crocodile slithering away.

 _Oh no._ There was only one reason for a mass animal exodus from an area. I turned around and ran away from the river, because I knew what was happening. Heavy rain brought flash floods.

The surge of water hit me as I was running. It knocked me off my feet and carried me down the current like a leaf. I breathed whenever I happened to be facing up, and I flailed in vain at roots or stones sticking out of the water.

Over all the rain and the river, I could hardly distinguish the distant thundering. I thought at first it was just thunder, but the duration and the increasing volume told me the truth. I'd seen the waterfall near the start of the Games. I was about to see it again.

There was no way out of the surging river. It was all I could do to not drown before I got there. I reached the edge and toppled over. My stomach fell out and I tumbled through open air. I didn't have to worry about drowning. It was too far down for that.

* * *

Ally Tesla- District Five female

"Rain, rain, go away..." I sang as we huddled in our shelter.

"I don't think it's working," Addie said. A drop hit her on the head and she wiped at it.

" _I'm_ pretty dry," I said.

Addie poked the thatch roof, sending a stream of water down my back. "Ha, ha!" she teased.

"Hey, man, not cool," I said.

"Incorrect. It was very cool," Nash said.

As though we'd discussed it beforehand, Addie and I both shoved Nash out of the shelter. He was drenched almost instantly.

"Joke's on you. I think that was even cooler," Nash said as he crawled back inside.

"You think it's going to flood?" Addie asked. She poked her head outside the tent and peered into the rain. "Guys. We have to go."

Nash and I scooted outside the back end of the tent without another word. In the Hunger Games, you acted first and asked questions later. Through the driving downpour, I could barely make out the thin layer of water creeping toward us from the river.

All at once, it was like a dam broke loose. Water surged from upstream and the creek tripled in size in seconds. Nash and I ran for the nearest tree and scrambled up.

"Addie!" I called down after our remaining ally. She was running after us, but the water caught her at the bottom of the tree. It swept her away as we screamed after her.

I started to descend the tree. Flood or no flood, I couldn't just leave her. Nash followed without hesitation. We skirted the edge of the water, searching the surface and calling for Addie.

"Addie!" I screamed again. I could barely hear myself over the rain. My hair was slicked down over my eyes. It was late in the evening, and in the darkness, I couldn't tell if the lumps floating by were logs or a person. We kept sprinting by the river, trying to keep up with the current.

A cannon rang out. Nash and I stopped and looked at each other with horror.

"Maybe it's not her! Keep going!" I yelled. We couldn't give up. Addie was brave and strong. She could get out of a river. Just because we couldn't find her, that didn't mean she was dead.

* * *

Addie Child- District Six female

I gasped in air as my head broke the surface. Just as quickly, I was forced back under. It didn't matter what way I moved my limbs or tried to point myself. I couldn't even see where I was going.

While I was underwater, I slammed up against a rock. The force of the water was so great I could barely move, but I started the laborious process of turning myself upright so my head was above the water. I was already low on air. I had to move fast.

As I moved, a thick log smashed into my ribs. The force and shock made me breathe out reflexively. I almost breathed in just as reflexively before I remembered I was underwater. Before, I'd had oxygen in my lungs, but as soon as I breathed out, I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I shoved at the log, but it was wedged into the river bottom and wouldn't move. Every movement made my lungs burn more, and panic welled up in me.

 _That's it._ I wasn't giving up, but I knew I couldn't do anything more. I looked up at the water's surface, just six inches from my upturned face. I could see the moon through the dark water, undulating on the surface. There was something heartbreaking about dying inches from what I needed. I could reach out and touch the air, but that didn't do anything. I stuck my hand out of the water and laid it on the rock. Nash and Ally wouldn't be able to find me in time, but they might be able to stop looking.

Sita Alaya- District Five female

The water was far below me. In my tree, I didn't have to worry. I wasn't worried at all until the tree started to shudder. A low noise came from the roots.

 _No. It won't fall. It's far too big._ Tree roots went down a long way. The roots were probably as long as the tree. There was no way the flood would tear the tree out of the earth.

The roots started to snap. The tree teetered back slightly. I scooted around the trunk so it wouldn't land on top of me. _But it's not going to fall at all._ The tree shuddered and fell back a foot, then stopped suddenly. I started to look at the trees on either side of me, in case they looked sturdier.

 _SNAP!_

Like a broken chair, the tree tumbled all at once. It splashed down into the water, soaking and disorienting me. I wasn't crushed under the tree, but I did land in the water, and the surging current

pinned me upright against the branch I had been sitting on. The water started to rise, threatening to submerge the branch. I hastily grabbed onto a dangling vine and tried to haul myself onto the branch. It snapped as I heaved, and I pitched into the water on the other side. The water spun me all around, and I barely grabbed onto another vine. I quickly grabbed a second just as the first one broke. When that one broke too, I wasn't quick enough, and the current got me.

Just seconds after the vine broke, I was yanked to a stop. The vines that I'd grabbed were half-cut, so they broke easily. There was only one vine that was solid enough to hold me: the one I used to haul myself up. That one was still wrapped all around me. It was wrapped around my waist, and farther up, in all the confusion, it had gotten wound around my neck.

I clawed at the vine, trying to unwind or break it. The pounding current held it taught, so that I couldn't even get a finger inside it. The vine and I both floated, so I was on the surface of the water, but I still couldn't breathe. The water yanked me one way, and the vine pulled me the other. It didn't matter that I got onto the right side. One way or another, the tree was taking me down with it.

* * *

Desiree Redwood- District Seven female

"Sammy!" I screamed, my voice raw as I fought with the tempest. "Sammy! Tatiana!"

"Des!" Sammy's faint voice came back. I followed it and saw her and Tatiana clinging to each other on a low branch in a stout tree.

"Jayla's with me! Where's the others?" I screamed, while Jayla and I looked up and down the stream.

"Zibby's there!" Tatiana pointed and I saw Zibby huddled at the foot of another tree, safely out of reach of the current.

"Stay there! Don't move!" I yelled. I turned to JD. "Come get me if anything happens," I said. Then I started to sprint down the edge of the river.

As I ran, I quickly noticed someone running far ahead of me. With my long legs, I quickly caught up with Jasmine.

"Who's with you?" she asked as we both kept running.

"Zibby, Jayla, Sammy, and Tatiana. Did you see Shinju or Tatsuya?" I asked.

"I saw Tatsuya in the water," Jasmine said. We both scanned the surface, looking for our two fallen allies. A fourth cannon rang out.

Jasmine pointed ahead and managed to increase her pace. I followed her and spotted Sparkil trying to reach Shinju, who was clinging to a rock at the edge of the current. Jasmine and I splashed into the inches-deep water and hauled Shinju out. As we lifted her, she twisted and pointed behind herself frantically. I looked and saw Tatsuya draped sideways across a rock, his head underwater and his limbs limp. Without thinking, I ran out into the current, barely staying upright as the water reached half a foot up my legs. I bent over and yanked Tatsuya up like a sack of potatoes, folding him under my arm as I ran back out.

I laid him flat on the dirt. His face was bone-white, except for his blue lips. He wasn't breathing. Jasmine put her fingers on his neck.

"One of them was his," she said.

I screamed up at the sky. _We found him! We got him out!_ Was it the fourth cannon? If I had been a single minute faster, would he be alive?

"No." Sparkil's voice was so forceful I heard it even though she'd said it at a normal volume. She sat down on Tatsuya's chest, her legs straddling him. She put her hands together and shoved down on his ribs. His body jerked under the forceful thrusts, making a horrible parody of life. Sparkil shoved down rhythmically, jarring Tatsuya like a landed fish. He flopped horribly, his white hands fluttering on the dirt.

Tatsuya's arms jerked suddenly, the opposite way the rest of him was flopping. His head curled up and water spewed from his mouth. His head turned to the side and he sucked in a breath.

 _Oh my god. She brought him back._ Tatsuya curled up on his side as Sparkil climbed off him. He heaved out more mud and water, then started to push himself into a sitting position.

"I thought I was dead," he rasped.

"Your cannon went off," Shinju said in an awed tone.

Tatsuya looked around at our faces and back at the water. "What are they gonna do about that?"

* * *

 **Surprise, double chapter! I got the idea for the flood and got impatient. "Manu" is the name of the hero in the Indian flood story.**

 **50th place: Celestial Yeager- Swept over a waterfall**

 **Celestial suffered from being so old that no one remembered her. That worked for a while, since no one voted for her, but it caught with her eventually. She always hated water, so of course she died by water. The first three times she didn't, at least. When I found out there are otters in India, of course it had to happen. She hasn't been able to see anything like an otter since the mangrove muscoon mutts. She probably never thought she was going to win, so the otters was the best she hoped for.**

 **49th place: Addie Child- Drowned**

 **I wanted to do a death just like this for Eren, but I chickened out at the last minute because I felt too mean killing a Four girl that way. It's so nightmarish and doable that I had to revisit it. Addie got the lucky vote. I'm not sure why people picked her, but no one seemed to actively dislike her, so I think people just picked her because they had to kill someone. If she hadn't taken the time to warn her allies, it might have been them instead of her. She always was a risk-taker, and her risk paid off for Nash and Ally, even if it didn't for her.**

 **48th place: Sita Alaya- Drowned**

 **I got the votes after the last chapter, probably just because people remembered Sita was there at all. Thus I had to kill her kind of sooner than expected after a POV. I could have gone for the squished by tree death or just drowned her, but the hoist by her own vine thing was so perfect, so I went Clayton on her instead. I really wanted to show her mechanical skills this time, since she died early last time. It took me this long to figure out how to do that in a natural Arena, but I finally got it. Sadly, pulleys do not save you from a flooded river.**

 **Special mention: Tatsuya Hikaru- Not drowned**

 **This marks the first time in my universe that a cannon went off erroneously. Not exactly erroneously, I guess, since Tatsuya _was_ clinically dead. The sensors went off heartbeat, and his stopped. Since Sparkil knew CPR (she's a smart girl. She knows a lot), he actually came back to life. Ten points to Sparkil. I feel like the Capitol should send another noise to mark that, like a trumped going "wah-wah".**


	67. Baital Pachisi

**SILVER FLOWER-** Anise Haeffele

It was up to me now. Silver and I were the team mothers. Now there was just one mother.

 **SOYA TORES-** Ally Tesla

We never even knew what happened to her. She just went out for a few minutes and never came back. That was what would haunt me. I didn't even know how she died.

 **TROY JENKINS-** Patrick Donegal

I was glad I barely knew him. He and Jay went way back, and Jay already had to lose so many friends. He must have been a good guy for Jay to be so sad.

 **CALVIN HEIDI-** Karyssa Evans

Another big competitor down. Careers were going like flies, but I was still here. The more of them that died, the easier it was for me.

 **LOGAN QUINN-** Jay Dallas

That was the last of them. It was just me and Patrick now, and there was a good chance he'd outlive me. I wasn't being fatalistic- he was just a Career. He knew how to do this. He had everything he needed to win.

 **JASON LENN-** Ember Steiner

Killing him was what got Miall killed. It wasn't worth it, but I was glad he was dead.

 **VALERIE LENN-** Priscilla Piscot

I shouldn't have considered her any worse than any other Career, but I did. I knew it was stupid, but I did it anyway. I did that a lot.

 **LISETTE CROWLEY-** Emmeline Blythe

Three never did well. One Victor in what, twenty years? We did worse than if they randomly picked a Victor every year. Lisette had it worse than most of us. Her skills weren't the kind valued in the Arena. That was a great loss.

 **MIALL PISCOT-** Floki Grimm

Ember and Priscilla held hands as they watched him appear. Both of them had a claim on him. Priscilla's was greater, but Ember's had more potential. They each had a reminder of him in the other.

 **CELESTIAL YEAGER-** Amphilia Fortune

Another Four girl who wasn't a killer. Celestial never should have been here. The only good thing that ever came out of the Academy was that no one in Four had to get Reaped anymore.

 **ADDIE CHILD-** Nash Forger

If it had been me sitting at the other side of the tent, I'd be the dead one. It was that close. Like when a plane crashes, and some people get crushed and others are just fine. Addie was the strongest of us, but she was still the dead one.

 **SITA ALAYA-** Jayla Dean

She was one of the smart ones. Not to separate people into "smart" and "dumb", but I saw her in training. She made all sorts of things. In my Arena, she would have won.

* * *

Xegon Samuels- District Ten male

Most of the Careers must have left the temple by now. I hadn't seen any of them in a long time. Probably they left when one of the towers fell in. That was great for me, because I could hide in the rubble. Most of my days were spent wandering the halls and reading, as best as I could, the stories on the walls. It was strange to see such a strange religion all around me. Religion of any kind wasn't allowed in Panem. This was the only time I could see such things. They gave me forbidden knowledge because they knew I wouldn't be able to tell anyone. The more I read the stories, the more I respected the ancient people who first wrote them. Whoever they were, they made an entire world. The stories were unlike anything I'd ever seen. They were colorful, and exciting, and some of them were inspiring. I wished I could have known the writers.

One day, when I crawled out of the rubble, something was different about the room. I finally realized that the walls had a different pattern. Before, there had been a story about bringing some goopy yellow stuff I assumed was honey to an elephant-headed guy. Today, there was a royally dressed man talking to a chalk-white man who was hanging upside-down from a tree branch. The same scene repeated twenty-five times. I couldn't make head or tails of what the story meant. All I knew was that the upside-down man was super creepy.

The wall seemed to shimmer for a moment, and I wondered if the clouds had shifted. A minute later, it happened again. Nothing seemed to be moving, but still my eyes kept registering movement. The walls almost swam, like I was looking through a flame. I took a step back in case something exploded.

The wall changed again. A section of it darkened, and a distinct outline formed and quickly filled it. I saw then that I had noticed movement because something _was_ moving. Some chameleon-like animal was crawling up the wall, shifting colors along with the design but still showing its movement. The outline filled in completely as the animal shifted back to its real color. It was a brown bat, as large as a tall man. Its tiny claws clung to the wall as it scuttled sideways. It swiveled its head around and looked at me.

 _I should have guessed that's why the wall changed._ As the bat focused its blue human eyes on me and launched itself off the wall, I almost felt honored. I hardly knew what I felt about my own religion anymore, but my own faith didn't prevent me from recognizing the coolness of someone else's. We had demons, but we didn't have chameleon bat-people.

* * *

Tatiana Kokolo- District Eleven female

In a place like this, I could be myself. In the Games, all people acted like animals. People didn't even notice if I was dirty and scruffy and didn't brush my hair. I could climb trees and run around like I had no cares in the world. Of course I did have cares, but that was beside the point.

"So, you like to pretend you're a wolf?" Sammy asked me.

"No, I _am_ a wolf," I said.

"You're a funny-looking wolf, but okay," Sammy said.

"I'm only a wolf on the inside," I said.

"Oh, like in Cinderella when the fairy godmother turned the mouse into a coachman but he was still really a mouse?" Sammy asked.

"I guess, but I'm stuck as a coachman forever," I said.

"Tough break," Sammy said. "But can you still climb trees?"

"It's not really an exact thing, so yeah," I said.

"Can I play wolf with you? Like, I'm not really a wolf, but I can pretend," Sammy said.

"Sure! Wolves like to have other wolves," I said. That was why I allied.

"Let's make a den," Sammy said. "We have a shelter, but another den. Just for us."

We found a tree with scooped-out roots and set about covering it with grass so no one else could see it. It was small enough that we had to crawl into it on all fours just like a wolf.

"What are you two squirts up to?" Jasmine called from our main camp.

"Just playing," Sammy said.

"Good. Keep it up," Jasmine said. The older kids were trying to make Tatsuya rest a while, since he died. I tried to tell them it didn't matter, since he wasn't drowning anymore, but they didn't listen. So we weren't supposed to make any noise, which was why I'd left to play a little ways away.

"Jasmine is sort of like me. She's a person and a bear," I said as Sammy and I hunted bugs and pretended they were rabbits.

"That makes sense," Sammy said knowingly.

* * *

Dayley Harrvis- District Twelve male

It wasn't good to be in the Games, but it was good to be in the Arena. I'd had the ood luck to have two hospitable Arenas, and I got to see so many cool things. The boat was so old and cool, and the rainforest was just as exciting. I didn't know trees grew this high, or that the air could be so full of water you felt it just walking around.

A pretty blue toad hopped by like he owned the place, which he sort of did. I crouched by it and watched, but I was careful not to touch. The bright ones were usually poisonous. The frog shot out its tongue and caught a stick insect I hadn't even noticed. It opened up its mouth like a hinge and gobbled the insect up all in one bite.

"Good job, little guy," I cheered him on. The Arena was supposed to be scary, and I was always a little bit nervous, but I couldn't be scared all the time. If I was going to die, there wasn't much I could do. I would do what I could and enjoy the time I had. That was all anyone could do, in the end.

A lot of people had died already. I didn't think so many strong people would die so early. That made things better for the rest of us, even if that was a mean thing to think. I wondered what happened to all the Careers. They must have all killed each other. All they ever did was fight and kill, even if the people they were killing were just like them.

The frog made his way up a tree trunk, half hopping and half crawling with his sticky footpads. I wanted to stick a finger out and feel how slimy he was, but I restrained myself. I wasn't going to get myself killed touching a poisonous frog.

Something bit me in the back. I thought I got stung by a bee until I noticed the arrow sticking out in front of me. It didn't even hurt, but whoever shot me must have done a really good job, since I fell over almost right away. I twisted as I fell and landed face-up, so I could watch the frog until I died.

* * *

 **The Gamemakers just sort of went "whoops" and didn't show Tatsuya's face since he's not dead. This might mess up some Tributes' counts, but that's life.**

 **47th place: Xegon Samuels- Killed by a vetela mutt**

 **It wouldn't be a Resurrection Games without a batty vampirey mutt, would it? Xegon went up and down a lot in votes, but we he got down this time, I called it and used a wild vote. He didn't have the followers to win. I kept him in the temple to explore his religious background. He learned a lot about Hinduism and really got to expand his horizons, which was cool. He was new to this world, but he's still cool.**

 **46th place: Dayley Harrvis- Shot by Ember**

 **I think we all knew either Dayley or Nash would get targeted eventually. Since Nash had allies, people went with Dayley. He got a lot farther this time, and he got to see lots of cool things. We all knew he wouldn't win, so this was bound to happen.**

 **A vetela is an Indian vampire sort of thing. They're not really bat-shaped and they can't change color like chameleons, but they really do hang upside-down from branches and have blue eyes. Baital Pachisi is a collection of stories about them.**


	68. My Way Is Not Very Honorable

Ferrari Benz- District Six female

Daisy was just bending down to fill up a bottle of water when I saw a log move unnaturally.

"Watch out!" I screamed. She jerked back just as a person-sized crocodile burst from the water, snapping at the air where she'd been.

"Goodness!" Daisy said. She walked up and down the river a few paces with her sword up, ready to stab it if it came back.

"Everything around here is trying to kill us," I grumbled. "We have to move. There's a crocodile here," I called to Anise, who was farther into the jungle.

"Where should we go?" she called back as she walked closer to us.

"Down the river, I guess," I said.

"What if the crocodile goes down the river?" Alinta asked.

"We're safe if we don't go too close," Daisy said. "Crocodiles don't like to come on land."

"But how do we get water if we can't go near the river?" Alinta asked.

"It's okay, I got it," Alinta said. She took Daisy's bottle and tied a vine around it. Then she started to climb a tree overhanging the river.

"Hold on there, speedy," I said, and I climbed up after her. I was not about to watch her lose her grip for one second and fall into a crocodile's mouth.

Alinta lowered the bottle into the water. As soon as it filled up, the water flowed into the bottom and stood the bottle on its end. After it was full, she started to haul it back up.

Something chittered right above my head. I almost tackled Alinta into the river before I remembered that what was down there was probably worse than whatever was above us. I nervously looked up just as a monkey jumped down on the branch between me and Alinta, showering me with loose leaves.

 _Nobody move,_ I thought. The monkey in front of me was only a quarter of my size, but I had no idea what horrible things the Gamemakers might have done to it. That, or there might be hundreds more waiting for it to signal. Alinta and I stared silently at the gray monkey, waiting for it to move.

The monkey chittered again, then jumped toward me. It landed right in front of me face, and it peered at me with round orange eyes. As I prepared myself for a fight, it stuck out a hand and grabbed a handful of my hair. _Don't freak out. Nothing's happened yet._ I let the monkey tug my hair all around. It reached out its other hand and felt around in the clump of hair. It brought both hands back to its mouth and crunched down on a tiny beetle. Then it hopped higher into the tree and vanished.

"Okay, maybe not everything is trying to kill us," I said as Alinta and I climbed down the tree.

"Did you know you had a bug in your hair?" Alinta asked.

* * *

Priscilla Piscot- District One female

Miall was dead. He always died before me, so I shouldn't have been surprised. I was more surprised at how quickly it happened. But it always happened quickly, so I shouldn't have been surprised. Losing him was different than how it should have been. I could never really move past it and let him rest, since there was always hope that he might come back again. If you were a popular Tribute, you were never really alive or dead. You were only alive when you were a Victor, and you were only dead when you were forgotten.

My allies tried their best to comfort me, but I needed to be alone. I took my sword with me so I could pretend I was hunting and not crying, and also in case I ran into trouble. I shouldn't really have been alone at all, but at this point, who lived and who died was mostly luck. There weren't many Careers left, and a mutt might as well be strong enough to kill my whole alliance as it was to be able to kill me.

I slashed at shrubs and clumps of tall grass as I went through the jungle. If I did it too much it would make my blade dull, but I didn't care. I was hurt and angry and I wanted to smash something. If I'd stayed around camp, I would have said something nasty to one of my allies eventually. Miall's death was nobody's fault but Valerie's, but she was beyond hurting and I wasn't done hurting things. Grass and shrubbery was the next best thing.

I almost wished a mutt _would_ come by, just so I could fight it. Just as quickly, I rejected the thought. It was just stupid to go looking for a fight. That was what got Miall killed. I yelled angrily at nothing and kicked the tree I was standing by. I pulled back at the last second so I wouldn't hurt myself badly and savored the satisfying thump. I took out my sword and started to swing it at the trunk, but I managed to reel myself in. I didn't want a broken sword or sore hands. It wouldn't bring Miall back.

"Go!"

I looked up. I hadn't even noticed Gidget and Jeanie were hiding in the tree I was under. They were perched on a branch, shoving a big rock off the same branch with their legs.

 _That must have taken a long time to haul up there,_ I thought in the second before it hit me. It had a vine around it, though, so at least they could haul it back. Clever, really.

* * *

Jessie Cabello- District Two female

It had been more than a week since Chrome died, but it didn't hurt any less. She was my big sister. From the day I was born, she was there. I always assumed she would be until I died. That was a stupid thing for a Career's sister to think, but no one ever thought _their_ sister would be the one that came home on their shield and not with it. Everyone talked about how the best thing in the world was being a Victor. My father told me and Chrome every day that was the only reason he had us. The only prize I wanted was my sister back.

A branch snapped above my head. I put up my arm to brush it away. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I fell flat on my back. I felt four separate points of impact on my torso and knew before I fully saw it that it was an animal. I rolled onto my side and curled my legs up to kick it off. As I did, I saw it was a black panther.

The panther jumped at my neck. I shot out a fist and punched it in the nose. It turned its head aside, spitting. As it turned its head back for another try, I grabbed a thick stick off the ground. I held it across my throat just as the panther struck. It bit into the wood and I shoved back, levering myself against the ground. Its claws slid across the thin metal breastplate I'd had since the Bloodbath. That curved piece of bronze was the only reason the panther didn't rip my guts out when it hit.

The panther was probably about half my weight, but it was as strong as a bull. It was all I could do with both arms to hold the stick and keep its teeth away from my neck. It kept kicking at my breastplate, trying to tear into my stomach. It growled as it tried to chew through the stick.

I let one end of the stick fall and poked the panther's eye, hooking my finger in and tearing at it. The panther screamed in my face and pulled its head back. I took the opportunity to jam the stick as far down its throat as I could. The panther made a wet noise around the wood and tossed its head back and forth as it backed down my chest. Its back legs hit my thighs and scored deep scratches in them.

The panther jumped off of. As it jumped, I rolled away and got to my feet. The panther wheeled back around and crouched for another spring. I hit it across the face with the stick. It yowled and backed up a step. It tensed on its haunches, bending low and making a deep growl in its throat. I screamed and jumped forward, swinging the stick. The panther turned on its tail and darted into the undergrowth.

I shifted my eyes back and forth from the grass to the trees as I quickly moved to an open area where the cat couldn't ambush me again. Only when I was safely backed against a river did I attend to my wounds. My hand hurt from where I'd punched the cat, and my legs were oozing blood from half a dozen gashes. I washed them out with clean water from my bottle and decided to rest until they had some time to heal over. If they didn't get infected I'd be fine, but that was a big if.

* * *

 **Surprise! Only one death. Only Priscilla had many votes, so I held off. You're all used to a ton of deaths, so this should be a surprise.**

 **45th place: Priscilla Piscot- Smashed by Gidget and Jeanie's rock**

 **To my surprise, Priscilla had -4 votes when I started this chapter. It didn't change, so now she's dead. If I'd been choosing, I would have waited a bit after Miall's death, but it's all the same in the end. I've always had a soft spot for Priscilla, so I'm sorry to see her go. She wasn't really a killer after her first trip to the Arena, but Gidget and Jeanie didn't know that. They just knew a Career was swinging a sword at their tree.**

 **Fun fact: the rock was Gidget's idea. She wanted to have a defense they could use if someone attacked them.**

 **More fun facts: Leopards are about 70 pounds. I thought they were way bigger than that!**


	69. One For All

Smudge Kells- District Twelve female

Usually I woke up before most of my allies. Zinnia woke up really early before she died. She said everyone did in Ten, because they had to milk the cows before the popped. I didn't know cows popped until she told me. Sometimes Alinta was up, and Daisy and Peach weren't usually _really_ asleep, but lots of times I was the first one out and about. I was always up early in Twelve, because bakeries always started early and sometimes they threw out burned things or really old stuff.

I didn't want to disturb anyone, so I went out to pick some fruit. I wasn't as good at climbing things as Alinta or Ferrari. Instead I found a really skinny pear tree and grabbed onto the trunk. I shook it all over. Pears started to fall out, and one landed on my head. I stuffed them all into my shirt, even the hard, pale ones. Even though there was a lot of fruit here and we didn't have to eat the ones that weren't ready, I just couldn't leave behind food. If no one else wanted the yucky ones, I would eat them.

Something moved between the trees. I crouched down and hid in a clump of grass at the base of the pear tree. I peeked out from the grass and saw Ember. She was moving quietly- I might not have heard her if she hadn't been so close. The only reason she didn't see me was that I was so small and hidden by tall grass. She walked closer, until she was so close I could have reached out and touched her. If she looked down, I was done for. I wanted to call my allies, but she would kill me before they could help. I wasn't far from camp. I never went far from camp. I was so close I could have seen the shelter if I'd popped my head up.

Ember didn't look down. She was looking right at something ahead of us. She took a bow off her back and put up an arrow. I could tell from her face what she was aiming at. She was aiming right at our shelter. Even if I warned them, they wouldn't have time to move. Ember would shoot, and whoever was in the wrong place would die.

I jumped out of the grass and grabbed her leg. I screamed until I hit her, and then I bit her. She looked down at the movement and took a step back when I hit, lowering her bow. I heard noises as my allies started to get up.

Ember bent her arm and hit her elbow into the back of my neck. I lost my grip on her leg and fell onto my back. She grabbed the front of my shirt with both her hands and pulled me halfway up. Then she turned and swung me sideways. My head smacked into another tree and broke. Ember dropped me and turned away. Everything was blurry and weirdly colored, and my arms and legs started to flop as she started to aim another arrow, then turned and ran away. Anise called my name, but I couldn't answer her anymore.

* * *

Jeanie Clay- District Nine female

Gidget pushed the rock up from underneath and I pulled on the vine from above, hauling it the last little bit back onto the branch. Gidget climbed up next to me and we examined it.

"It has her blood on it," Gidget said, looking at a brownish splotch.

I snapped off a twig and rubbed it on the spot. I shouldn't have felt guilty about killing someone who was attacking us, but I didn't like looking at Priscilla's life smeared across a rock. I let the twig fall after wiping my hands on it.

"I didn't know if it would actually work," Gidget said. She sounded more curious than upset.

"It's a good thing it did," I said. "She was coming at us something crazy."

"Hope we don't have to do it again," Gidget said. We almost certainly would, though. There were a lot of people left in the Arena, every one of which wanted the same thing we did. Whoever won this wouldn't get out without killing a lot of people. I was glad Gidget felt the way she did, but it also made me sad. People who thought the way she did deserved to win the Games, but they never did.

"What's it like being a mom?" I asked some time later. "I can't even imagine having a baby."

"I think all mothers feel like that before they have one. Then once you do, you can't imagine going back," Gidget said. "Or at least I did. I guess not all mothers feel that way."

In my heart, I wanted to protect Gidget as much as I wanted to win. I knew it was reckless and I was sure I'd change my mind when I was actually in danger. I just wanted to make things right and be a hero. Even with all that, I couldn't imagine what it was like to be so devoted to someone other than yourself. I didn't think I was a selfish person, but that was beyond me.

"Sometimes I'm even happy I got Reaped," Gidget said.

 _It's true what they say. Having a baby makes you crazy,_ I thought, but I didn't say it.

"I miss my children all the time. It's the worst thing in the world to be away from them. But the most important thing to me is what's best for them. Capitolites don't mind killing people, but they like to pretend they're charitable. My husband said that as soon as I died, money started pouring in from all over the Capitol. They didn't stop them from killing me, but they wanted to take care of the poor motherless babies. They'll be taken care of forever now. They'll have a better life than I could ever have given them. I missed so many irreplaceable moments, but it's worth it, even if I can't make myself feel that way," Gidget said.

"That's... deep," I said. There were so many things in the world I didn't know. I'd read so many books and planned so many lives, but I never imagined. _Every one of us is like that,_ I realized suddenly. Gidget wasn't the only one with an inner life beyond me. Every Tribute had a story just as important and unique. Every time one of us died, something priceless was lost forever.

* * *

Nash Forger- District Twelve male

Addie wasn't coming back. We kept looking for her right up until when we saw her in the sky. It was just me and Ally now. We were two of the smallest allies, but we were still alive. If the bigger Tributes kept killing each other the way they'd been doing, we might be able to stay alive a long time.

"I'm so muddy," Ally said. We were both streaked head to toe in mud. We'd tried to wash it off, but the river was still swollen. The water was torrid and brown with muck. Even after we filtered it, it still tasted like dirt. My clothes were stiff with dried filth and my hair was knotted and clumpy. Even my face was tight with ground-in dirt.

"At least we're alive," I said. Ally's face fell, and I felt bad right away. What a thing to say right after someone died.

"She was really brave to warn us," Ally said. I nodded.

"Did it seem to you that someone was missing? I thought there should be someone else in the sky," I said.

"I lost count forever ago," Ally said.

"Hey!" someone called from across the river. Ally and I drew together and got ready to run.

"It's just me, Hemi!" the girl called. "Are you two all right?"

"What do you care?" I asked. I would have said it more politely, but I was startled.

"I'm a nurse," the girl said, holding up a first aid kit.

"Oh, I remember her. She really is a nurse," Ally said to me.

"Can I come over?" the girl asked. She started to wade across the river. It was wider than normal and moving faster, but it wasn't deep. It was safe to walk across if you were careful. She picked her feet up as she went, treasing carefully on the muddy river floor.

"So she's really a nurse?" I asked Ally as we watched.

"Yeah, I saw her training," Ally said.

Something wasn't sitting right with me. I looked Hemi all over and finally saw it. There was a knife stuck through her wrap so it would stay in place. The blade was streaked with blood.

"Go away!" I shouted, and I picked up a rock and threw it at her. It hit her leg and she looked up in shock.

"What's wrong?" Ally asked.

"Her knife!" I said, and I pointed at it. Ally saw it and gasped.

"Get out of here!" she yelled, and she started throwing rocks, too. Hemi almost fell when one hit her on her eye. She put up her arms to shield herself and started backing across the river. Ally threw another rock, this one covered in mud. It hit Hemi's face and got mud all over her. She reached the far bank and ran away into the trees.

"She was a faker," Ally said hotly.

"You should be able to trust nurses," I said.

* * *

 **Surprise, another one death chapter! Smudge was the only one with enough votes to kill.**

 **44th place: Smudge Kells- Head injury by Ember**

 **Smudge is not particularly strong, or particularly fast, or particularly smart. She IS particularly loyal. She grew up a street kid, and kids her age had to work together to survive. She was a social person through and through, and her pack was as important to her as her own life. Her constant proximity to death made her fearless, so it was no big deal to her to attack Ember. She got voted against because she was young and also because she was mine. That WOULD be pretty weird if she won.**

 **Survivor Update: I'm trying to get ahold of the other collaborator so we can divide up Districts and I can start writing.**


	70. Impatient

**XEGON SAMUELS-** Ethel Bulhera

I was the only Ten left. Bet no one saw _that_ coming.

 **DAYLEY HARRVIS-** Nash Forger

Dayley and I were like twins. We were both little kids from Twelve with a lot of enthusiasm and not much skill. I would have thought there was enough room in the Arena for two little dudes like us.

 **PRISCILLA PISCOT-** Ember Steiner

Unless it had been the very end, I wouldn't have fought her. I would have defended myself, but I knew she wouldn't have fought me either. It felt almost like losing another little bit of Miall when she died. None of us saw it, and I wondered if she committed suicide. She was so close to her brother, and death was so cheap now.

 **SMUDGE KELLS-** Daisy Stem

I missed Smudge. I missed her funny talk and the way she made faces when she didn't know the word for something. Alinta was really broken up. She was the last of the little kids now. She was probably used to that.

* * *

Jayla Dean- District Three female

Des and I didn't seem to be happening. She was a cool lady. If I did say so myself, I was also a cool lady. Nothing just really happened. Maybe in the future, after one of us won and we didn't have the whole Games thing separating us. But then, if I won, I'd be drowning in ladies. Des was still really cool, but I wasn't sure I'd pick her out of all of Panem. I would have to take a look at my options first.

My alliance was great, but sometimes I needed a little alone time. Tatsuya, Sammy and Tatiana were all people people, and I was more of a loner. I wasn't one of those people who moaned about being "introverts" and how it was _soooooo_ draining to have to pretend to care about other people, but I did need to recharge now and then. Sparkil was like that, too. Sometimes we shared knowing glances when the fireside conversation dwindled and one of the talkers tried to start it going again.

I wasn't dumb enough to go off into the jungle and get myself killed because I wanted some peace and quiet. I didn't go out of earshot. I didn't even go out of sight. I just took a seat on a mossy rock a short ways away from our fire pit and looked up at the clouds. The birds weren't as loud as they sometimes were. It was almost tranquil.

Des and Sparkil were out picking fruit. I heard them coming back and stood up to greet them. I knew it had to be them because they weren't bothering to be quiet. With an alliance our size, even a Career would have to be stealthy. One could have used a long-range weapon, but I'd thought of that, too. The rock I'd chosen as my spot was conveniently surrounded on most sides by trees, making it almost impossible to get a shot.

"Hey," I said, and I waved an arm slowly. It was just common sense to make your presence known early and not surprise anyone in the Arena you didn't want to kill. Especially when one of your allies was Des, who killed people barehanded.

At my movement, there was a terrific crash, and then the sound of someone barreling frantically through the greenery. Des was big, but she didn't make that much noise.

I ran back toward the safety of camp, looking back over my shoulder. A huge black gorilla burst into our camp's clearing, tossing its head and flashing its fangs. It roared, flicking spittle into the air, and reached a bear-clawed hand after me. I was only fifty feet from my allies around the fire pit, but it was on me before I was halfway there. They couldn't have done anything, anyway. _Nothing I can do against this one,_ I thought before it picked me up and crushed my head in its mouth like a grape.

* * *

Nairobi Ellis- District Six female

People used to live in places like this. Maybe they still did, in far-away places. No one knew much about what was outside Panem, except maybe people in the government. I knew there were lots of disasters during the Dark Days, but that couldn't have destroyed everything. If that was enough to destroy the whole planet except Panem, it would have destroyed Panem, too. I wondered if those other places were like Panem, or if they got so messed up they lived jungle people in the old days.

Everything must be different if you grew up in the jungle. I was used to big cities and smoky air. I never went outside and just ran right into a wild animal. There were no tigers, or monkeys, or big rivers. Everything here was so open, even with the trees. Everything smelled alive, instead of smelling like tar and soot. You could walk for miles and never even see another person.

If I won, maybe I would be allowed to move. I had nothing keeping me in Six except a lot of bad memories I would rather leave behind. Normal people didn't get to go to the Capitol, but maybe I could get someone to invite me if I was a Victor. I'd do all their dumb talent stuff and go to all their dumb parties. I just wanted to start all over somewhere new. And if I lived in the Capitol, I would have a big garden, with lots of jungle flowers.

A fly buzzed through the air. It landed on the back of my neck, but it punched right through me. I felt myself bleeding, and when I put up my hand, I pricked my finger on a throwing star. I sank to my hands and knees and looked all around, but I couldn't even see the person who'd thrown it. The jungle was as peaceful and lovely as ever. No one but my murderer even knew I was dying.

* * *

Shui Steiner- District Two male

Ember and I sat by the edge of a cliff, watching the waterfall.

"When you're a Victor, you'll have to take care of Dad. He's not strong like he used to be," I said.

"He's still strong," Ember said. I wanted to think she was right. My father was the strongest man I ever knew. I always thought he could do anything. I never thought he could get old. I saw it happen like a flash when I came back to life. For the first time, he looked like he might not win a fight. I neer thought I would doubt my father. He was the only thing I thought would last forever.

"He's going to need you," I said. "And you're going to need him. Neither of you can do everything on your own."

"If I ever have kids, I'm not going to let them train," Ember said. "I don't ever want them to do to me what we did to him."

"Do you even want kids?" I asked.

"I might. I'm not sure yet. That's a big decision," Ember said.

"As big as volunteering for the Games," I said innocently.

"Hey, it took me seventeen years to do that," Ember said.

"What about Jewel and Rock?" I asked. When she was six years old, Ember told everyone she was going to have twins and name them those names. She abandoned that plan when she was eight, and she hated that I was a living witness to it.

"Shut up! Those names are so stupid! No one would name twins Jewel and Rock," Ember said, more for the audience's benefit than mine.

"Wow, I hope no Jewels or Rocks are listening," I said, and I shifted. "We should get back before Floki eats all the curry."

As we stood, the ground shook and the cliffside trembled. Ember jumped back just before the chunk I was standing on broke off and fell. She made a wild dive and caught my arm.

"Shui! I got you!" she yelled, lying on her stomach and gripping my arm with both of hers. She started to wiggle back, trying to pull me up.

I looked down at the canyon under us. No one could survive a fall like that. I wasn't scared, though. Ember would never let me fall.

The ground shook again. Ember cast a nervous glance at the falling chunks of dirt. She looked back at me, saw what I was thinking, and grabbed on tighter.

"No-" she started.

"Take care of Dad," I said. I folded my fingers and wrenched my arm out of Ember's grasp. I pulled it away as she tried to grab on again.

It was no great sacrifice. I didn't deserve any praise for doing what should be done. Ember and Dad were Careers, and they believed what the Academy told them. I knew better. When the moment came, I didn't have to think about it. I could have held on and gotten us both killed, or I could let myself fall. That was no choice at all.

* * *

 **The votes were all even again and they were stagnating, so I called it again and wiped out a bunch of people to free up new votes.**

 **43rd place: Jayla Dean- Bitten by gorilla**

 **I'm scared of big monkeys. I think that's a pretty reasonable thing to be scared of, though, since monkeys be scary. I'm REALLY scared of baboons, which is why I don't put baboons in my story. Nope, 2spooky4me. I actually like gorillas as far as apes go (they are second only to be only ape I genuinely like, the orangutan), so I used a gorilla instead. Like Jayla said, you can't do much if a gorilla mauls you. You're pretty much going to die. Lucky thing real-life gorillas are nice. Jayla had ONE death vote and that was enough- that's how close things are. I think she got picked just because people thought she wasn't the one Victor among all these Tributes. She did a lot better this time, though.**

 **42nd place: Nairobi Ellis- Throwing star thrown by Karyssa**

 **Nairobi actually had +1 vote. I called it on grounds that that was the only vote she got either way and the vast majority of people overlooked her entirely. That, and I'm pretty sure her submitter isn't here, since her story was the second SYOT I ever did. Nairobi had a cool story and placed second in her first appearance. This time, there were just too many people to keep track of.**

 **41st place: Shui Steiner- Plummeted off cliff**

 **Shui was one of many people tied for default 2nd-to-last place (only Jayla had enough to definitely kill). I picked him and used a wild vote because the votes wouldn't change unless someone died and I didn't see him winning. I chose this death so he could have a nice leisurely POV and interact more with Ember. He was much more well-rounded than his less educated sister and was able to see past the culture of Two, so he didn't have that single-minded selfishness a Career needs to win. He wasn't made for the Games, and he would want Ember to have that chance.**


	71. Vibrio Cholerae

**BREAKING NEWS: The Marines just called and they're trying really hard to get me to leave on February 6th. Apparently all the other female candidates dropped out and I am their only hope. We're trying to get it worked out, but there's a possibility I might go. If that happens, all my frantic writing will be for naught, since there is no way I am finishing this in six days. In that case, I will finish it when I get back, but Marine Boot Camp is three months long. If I end up going, anyone who thinks they won't be here in three months or doesn't want to wait can message me and I can at least say who is currently projected to win. More updates as the story develops.**

* * *

Tatsuya Hikaru- District Three male

"Keep drinking," Sammy pestered, pushing a water bottle at me. I knew she had to do it, and I was grateful she was trying so hard, but it was useless. For the last three days, ever since the flood, I'd been sick. I drank, but it came right back out. I was horribly embarrassed about how I smelled, and I'd moved away from the camp as soon as I noticed it. My allies weren't giving up on me, though. They tooks turns fussing over me and plying me with water. They gave up on food yesterday, after I almost threw up just looking at a banana.

"You're still hot," Sammy said after testing my forehead. Something stuck in my lungs, and I coughed. I'd been coughing a lot lately. At first we thought it was just river gunk, but that should have been out by now, and most of it came up when Sparkil brought me back to life like a real-life superhero. My stomach had been on edge ever since.

"What's wrong with him?" I heard Des ask Zibby.

"I don't know," she said.

"I thought you knew science," Des said.

"Yeah, chemicals and explosions and stuff. Not biology," Zibby said.

"It's probably something the Gamemakers cooked up," Jasmine said darkly.

"Don't people sound like that when they have pneumonia?" Shinju asked.

"No, I knew an old lady who got pneumonia. It's way worse than that," Jasmine said.

My stomach clenched and surged upwards. I opened my mouth as acidic, thin liquid shot out of me and landed on the dirt. Something tickled on my tongue, and I put my hand to my mouth as Sammy jumped up and made a disgusted groan.

"Look," she said to the rest of our allies, pointing at the tiny puddle of vomit. In the brownish soup, thin white worms twirled and wriggled. They were long and slender, like horse hairs, and they spun in on themselves and flopped around in the liquid.

More of them wiggled on my tongue. I tried to spit them out, but my mouth was so dry and I was so tired I could only scoop them out with my fingers. I coughed again, and I felt more in the back of my throat. The movement took nearly all my energy. With the last of it, I wiped my mouth clean and turned onto my back.

 _I can't die. I need to find Miyuji._ But that wasn't an excuse. I knew Miyuji didn't need me. She could take care of herself. My sister was so much stronger than me.

* * *

Peach Unk- District Twelve female

Know what sucks? Being _sick._ It happened so fast, too. Yesterday I was running around like my normal peachy self, and today I could barely get up.

"Maybe we should filter the water better next time," Anise said, looking guiltily at a bottle.

"We let it sit an hour longer than we had to," Daisy said.

"Which is why it tastes like chemicals," Alinta said distastefully.

"Maybe we should have thought of this before I was stricken," I said. I pang went through my stomach, and I curled sideways. "Fire in the hole!"

Everyone scattered as I spat up milky-colored water. That was the real problem. It was coming out both ends. There hadn't been a cannon since Tatsuya three days ago, but it was definitely a possibility if I didn't get better soon.

"Are you really, really sick?" Alinta asked.

"Feels like it," I said. I was trying to keep joking, but my answers were so short because I didn't have the energy for much talking. I was lying in a humorously tangled position, but that was because I couldn't really get out of it.

"It's just like last time. But this time _you're_ dying and I'm the one who isn't even sick," Alinta said.

"Thanks," I said.

"Don't talk like that. She'll be fine," Anise said.

"Anise, you are such a goody-goody. I'm shooting blood out both ends. Do you know anyone who lived through that?" I asked.

"I don't," Daisy said.

"You wanna know why I'm the only sick one?" I said, leaning up on my elbows for one final rant. "Because they don't like me and they want me to die. I could have eaten nothing but ambrosia and still gotten sick. Don't waste time crying about me. Woman up and keep going."

All at once, I couldn't even hold myself up. I face-planted and weakly spat out a thin stream of bile. I was too weak to talk, and then I was hardly strong enough to breathe. Then I was too weak to do anything.

* * *

Tatiana Kokolo- District Eleven female

"Is it the same thing that killed Tatsuya?"

"She doesn't have worms. It's clean."

"Is she delirious?"

Someone was calling for me. In the middle, the cry morphed into the howl of a wolf. My fur was warm, and the ground was soft under me. My pack was all around me. Their scent filled the air, primal and full of life. I stood up, feeling my four paws press into the dirt. I stretched out to my full length and felt my tail in the air behind me. It felt somehow new, like I'd never noticed it before. The forest seemed full of adventure. I ran out ahead of my pack, yipping for them to follow.

When I looked back, my pack was still where they were before. They looked after me, but they didn't follow. I heard another howl and looked ahead. In the distance, a gray wolf was calling for me. Her slender throat flashed white as she reared her head back and howled, and her fur shone like stars. She lowered her head, and her black eyes found mine. I ran to her, and as I got closer, I saw dozens more wolves behind her. They looked familiar, like I'd seen them before. When I reached the wolf, the others fell in with me. We ran together, eager to see what lay over the hill.

* * *

 **I started writing this and I was like "better kill a lot of people so I stay on track for the 26th." As I was writing, the Marines called. Anyway, here's three dead people.**

 **40th place: Tatsuya Hikaru- Roundworm infestation**

 **Know what happens when you swallow a bunch of nasty river water? Nasty worms. I would say sorry for being so disgusting, but I'm not sorry, since I am disgusting. Tatsuya was on the edge of having enough votes and I needed to kill people, so killed him. The more people die, the clearer the votes will be in the future. This isn't the last we'll see of the Hikarus, since Miyuji has some big things going on.**

 **39th place: Peach Unk- Cholera**

 **At first I was going to use Ebola for my plague, but then I realized that would be in super bad taste. Then as I wrote the chapter I realized way more people die of cholera every year than Ebola, so it's really about equally bad taste. India has more problems with cholera, so I went with that. Cholera can kill people SUPER fast- twelve hours, apparently. I think that's probably people who are already malnourished, but people in the Arena probably ARE malnourished. Peach is my sister's. I had to choose between two of her Tributes and I knew she liked the other more, so RIP Peach. Long may she quarrel in Heaven.**

 **38th place: Tatiana Kokolo- Cholera**

 **Everyone knows I take the weird ones. I get an otherkin? No problem! One otherkin coming up. I also take a little artistic license with Heaven and write it however the Tribute thinks it will be. Tatiana wants to go to wolf Heaven, so wolf Heaven she shall have. People picked her for being young, but we enjoyed her until the end.**

 **If you're able, get your votes in EXTRA fast! The more votes I get, the more chapters I can write, and the closer I can get before I leave for three months.**


	72. Mimic

**I knew I was going to forget to explain the cholera! It was just bad luck. The water was only contaminated for a while, so it came down to who drank from the bottle that happened to be filled at that time. The cholera was also more virulent than normal so the iodine didn't kill it.**

* * *

Vesper Lynd- District Twelve female

Ember's sword gleamed in the light as she swung it toward me. If I hadn't seen that split second of reflected light, it would have taken off my head. I ducked, whirling around and trying to sweep her legs. Of course she was alert enough to dodge, but I did manage to kick her and make her shift her balance. She swung again and I darted behind a tree. Her sword hit the trunk and she gritted her teeth as it bounced off.

 _I practiced for this,_ I thought. Not that I thought I could really fight a Career. It occurred to me, though, that Ember probably didn't know I practiced at all. I took a chance and slapped Ember upside the head. Her face showed pure surprise as she stepped back. No doubt she thought I'd done some freaky voodoo or something, because no way was I stupid enough to slap a Career.

I _was_ stupid enough to slap a Career. I tackled into Ember, getting inside her strike so she couldn't stab me. I headbutted her nose, and for an instant her eyes filled with tears. I started to get up in that instant, and when she shoved me off a second later, I used the momentum to launch me farther away from her.

As she got up, I ran for it. I'd learned a little about fighting, but I knew a lot more about running away. I put all my energy into one short burst, getting enough distance between us that I was able to grab a low-hanging branch and scamper up like a squirrel while Ember started to give chase. She reached my tree easily, but I was way skinnier than she was. She couldn't come after me, and after a few minutes, she stormed away to find someone else to kill.

 _That's right. You better run from Vesper Lynd. Vesper Lynd, the girl who slapped a Career... and lived._

* * *

Sparkil Maclein- District Three female

Des and Jasmine were posted at the entrances to the temple, watching for the Careers' return. Whoever was still camping there had hidden their supplies somewhere deep in the temple, but we didn't need those. I could hardly believe it, given the complexity of our plan, but everything we needed was buried underground.

Sammy and Zibby dug into the dirt, slowly uncovering another mine. The explosives were usually deactivated after the Bloodbath, but sometimes the Gamemakers left them as dummy bait. We'd tested one in a very scientific manner: Des chucked one out the back door. It didn't explode, so we were in the clear. It was sort of funny, since we _did_ plan to use explosives but weren't planning to use the mines. We needed them for something else entirely. That was my job.

I pried open one of the mines and started stripping out the metal and wiring. The only thing we weren't able to make with stuff we had lying around was a signal generator. That required high-tech stuff like circuits, which was why we needed the mines. I twisted wires together and jury-rigged an apparatus that would amplify the materials we did have into something much more powerful. As Zibby cut open some of the cold packs that had kept our rations from spoiling, I tied the amplifier in place under the vaguely cone-shaped piece of plastic Des had made by taking one of the food containers, cutting it apart, twisting it into a new shape, and melting the seam together over our fire. Obviously, this was a very collaborative effort.

Zibby started setting up a line of metal water bottles filled with all the lovely ingredients we needed to make gunpowder: the crystals from the cold packs, fake salt we'd managed to extract from our sponsors, water, and coconut husks. When she set the eighth on by the others, she got up.

"You ready?" she asked me.

"Yep," I said, and I looked around at my allies. "All right, who has the least recognizable voice?"

Everyone looked at Jasmine.

"Guess that answers that," Jasmine said. After a few minutes of practice, she held it up before her face. She pinched her nose and started to speak, mimicing a Capitol accent.

"Attention, Tributes! There will be a feast held at the Cornucopia starting immediately. Attendance is mandatory! We look forward to seeing you..."

* * *

Kerry Selmosa- District Five male

 _Why does that announcement sound like it's coming from below me?_

I looked down and saw the four girls that went into the temple before filing out of the exits and splitting off toward the temple corners. Each of them dug a little pit and shoved two bottles under the stone. I squinted closer and saw that one of the girls was carrying what looked like a loudspeaker.

 _Oh no. There's something crazy going down around here. Even_ I _don't want to be part of that._ When the girls weren't looking, I climbed onto the branch that overhung my perch and shimmied down the tree. The temple was fun while it lasted, but somehow it didn't seem safe anymore.

* * *

Karyssa Evans- District One female

A feast was perfect for Careers like me. A lot of kids together in a small space was just asking for another Bloodbath, which was exactly why they did this, judging by the total lack of any supplies or gifts in the room. They wanted a lot of blood, and that was my job. I was especially looking forward to taking out the bigger targets. They were so hard to track down in all this space.

I was the first to reach the feast. It occurred to me that some of the smaller Tributes might have come and hidden in the other rooms. As I searched the next room over, I heard more Tributes arriving. I was about to go see who it was, but the lack of fighting noises meant it was probably a bunch of littler kids. Instead of scattering them all right away, I'd wait until I had more targets. More Tributes entered, until there had to be four or five of them. There was an abortive screech of interference, and then the voice started again.

* * *

Jasmine Ashenvale- District Seven female

When I gave the signal, the others would light their fuses. They hid at the corners of the temple, camouflaged under piles of leaves and ready to pull the strings that Zibby had rigged, with a five-second delay, to set off the explosives. I watched more people file into the temple. They were coming more slowly than we expected. My loudspeaker didn't reach all the way through the Arena. That might be everyone who heard us. And if I waited too long, Karyssa would stop hiding or whatever she was doing and scare them away. I called the shot.

"Welcome, Tributes! We're very excited you came. I suppose you're expecting some prizes. Well, it's time to _let her rip!"_

* * *

Hemi Sergius- District Six female

What kind of feast was this? There was nothing in the Cornucopia except some leftover detritus. The only other attendees were Alinta, Anise, Daisy, Ferrari, and Vesper. We were huddled on either side of the room, looking suspiciously at each other. When the loudspeaker kicked back on, we all listened to see what was going.

"... _let her rip!"_

 _Something's not right._ Volvo must have had the same idea, because he jumped through the exit door. I was running after him when the temple blew sky-high.

Vesper Lynd- District Twelve female

I was right after Hemi, both of us sprinting through the door. There was a deafening blast that flattened me. As I fell, I saw a huge chunk of rock smash into Hemi. An instant later, the crumbling wall toppled onto me. There was so much noise I didn't even hear the cannons.

* * *

Anise Haeffele- District Eleven female

Something was wrong. Everyone started running at once, like they knew something I didn't. The ground shook as a terrible noise rang out. A shockwave knocked everyone but Daisy to the ground. As I was getting up, the roof started to fall in toward Alinta, who was in the middle of the room. I ran toward her to help her get out faster. Ferrari and Daisy ran after me. Alinta took a step toward me, and we were together when the roof buried us.

* * *

Alinta Fintan- District Twelve female

Anise was going to try to save me. I raised up an arm to ward her off. _You have to get away,_ I wanted to say, but I didn't have time. She ran full speed into me, wrapping her arms around me and bending her upper body over my head. The rocks fell on both of us, and I felt her go limp before we both hit the ground. She shouldn't have done it. Now we would both die.

* * *

 **I killed a buttload of people just in case I leave early, but I think I'll actually be able to stay. This time I went through and swept the Tributes with long-gone submitters, since I knew they wouldn't get voted for in the end. So it doesn't EXACTLY match the votes, but most of them WERE pretty low. (Karyssa actually had enough votes to kill) I got the idea for the fake announcement and it sounded so cool I went ahead and did it.**

 **37th place: Hemi Sergius- Killed by shrapnel**

 **I checked the reviews and Everlastingimpression wasn't here for a long time. It's well known that I don't whack people based on reviews, but I checked her profile and she hasn't done anything since last August. So I killed Hemi. Hemi was really useful since she was willing to kill, so now I'll have to work even harder, since you all want Tribute-caused deaths but most of these people avoid fights.**

 **36th place: Vesper Lynd- Killed by falling wall**

 **Not gonna lie, Vesper was a pet of mine. Since her submitter was gone, I could do anything I wanted with her. She started out as a sugar baby, so I thought it would be cool if she took a level in badass and became a cool fighter. She usually had 0 votes anyway, but with this sweep I had to kill her. I still wrote a fight scene for her because that's a lot of development to waste.**

 **35th place: Karyssa Evans- Killed by falling ceiling**

 **Karyssa was in the next room, which didn't have a direct exit, so she got squished. She was super helpful because she was a hunter, but she had -1 votes and that was enough. I thought she might last a long time, and relatively speaking, she did, so that's cool. SHe's a well-balanced Career and more than just a volunteer.**

 **34th place: Anise Haeffele- Crushed by rocks**

 **Of course Anise would do this. That's pretty much her nature. She had enough votes to be on the edge, so I called it because she doesn't want to win anyway. Had she got a ton of votes I would have gone with the angle of her feeling guilty about winning and all that, but she had a low enough number that I could do this if I needed more deaths. Anise was a great woman. The world needs people like her.**

 **33rd place: Alinta Fintan- Crushed by rocks**

 **As many people noticed, Alinta's submitter is long gone. She's pretty popular, but I knew people would turn at the end. Alinta pulls no punches and speaks her mind, for better or for worse. She acts her age, which isn't too common for younger Tributes. She always lasts a long time, which shows how strong she really is.**

 **VOTING NOTE: Only like four people are voting regularly. It's okay not to vote and your Tributes won't be penalized. I'm just saying that because your votes are more valuable than you might think, so you might want to vote. I'd also like to remind guests that they can also vote. Since the votes are so close, I'm upping the guest vote to 1/2 a normal vote (guest votes can still only count for 2 votes for a Tribute, though). I think we're getting small enough now that the votes will clump up better, but then I think that every time.**


	73. Newton's Third Law

**UPDATE: The Marines called. They need me so badly they offered me a thousand dollar bonus, and they're threatening to move me to open contract if I don't go. "Open contract" means they pick my job, so I could end up being a truck mechanic or something for the next four years. I might end up going on the 6th after all. That means either I finish this in three months, or I kill six people a day. I'll get started doing that and if the votes come in fast enough, RAMMING SPEED!**

* * *

Jasmine Ashenvale- District Seven female

Our plan worked very well. The explosion was so big, in fact, that I couldn't hear anything but a shrill ringing in my ears. We all ran after we set off the explosives, but they blew a little faster than anticipated. The shockwave almost pitched me forward, and there was a sharp prick in my ears. When I dizzily stood up and took my hands away from my head, there were little spots of blood on them.

The ground pitched slightly under me, like I was walking on a boat. The air felt weirdly empty without any noise. I stumbled forward, hardly realizing I was headed back toward the crumbled temple. I wasn't sure where my allies were, and I wanted to make sure none of them were hurt. Except maybe Zibby. She was probably too smart to live.

The door to the temple had fallen apart, leaving just a few stones piled up around an empty space. When I looked inside, I saw a girl digging at the rocks. She looked like she was trying to dig someone out. With all the dust and grime, I couldn't tell who it was. I took another step forward, and she looked up. Fear flitted across her face, and she got up to fight. I realized it wasn't one of my allies at the same moment as someone else stabbed me in the back.

* * *

Daisy Stem- District Four female

The explosion must have stunned me. I certainly didn't remember lying down. I sat up and looked around. The temple was a pile of blown-up rocks. I hadn't heard any cannons, so I didn't know who was dead.

Ferrari was a few feet ahead of me, digging at a pile of rocks. _Anise and Alinta,_ I thought. As I stood to go help her, I saw Jasmine sneaking around the other side of the rock pile. Ferrari didn't notice her. I drew my sword and shouted a warning.

"Hey! Get away!" I yelled.

Jasmine didn't even flinch. She kept going like I wasn't even there. She couldn't see me, since I was at an angle behind her, but she certainly could hear me.

"Hey!" I yelled again. When she didn't react again, I ran up behind her and stabbed her. It was a bold, impulsive action. It was funny, since I was a Career, but I didn't like killing people. Back when I volunteered, there wasn't nearly as much competition. I just did it because I thought maybe I could win and then someone else wouldn't have to go.

"Are you okay?" I asked Ferrari.

She squinted at me. " _Why are you whispering?!"_ she shouted.

* * *

Ferrari Benz- District Six female

"Are you okay?" Daisy whispered, so quietly I could barely hear her.

"Why are you whispering?" I asked. We were out in the open. Everyone could see us.

Daisy reeled back like I'd screamed in her face. She mouthed something, but didn't say it.

 _Oh. I'm deaf,_ I realized.

"Are you deaf?" Daisy asked. I should have figured it out earlier. I was just at ground zero of a giant explosion. Of course I was deaf. That explained the blood, the ringing ears, and why I didn't hear Jasmine sneaking up.

"Let's go," I said. I tore me up, but Anise and Alinta weren't alive under there. I'd only been digging because my brain was still scrambled from the explosion. I took Daisy's hand as we fled for the trees.

As we ran through the open air around the temple, Daisy suddenly jerked my hand. She went limp, almost pulling me down before I dropped her. I looked down and saw a baseball-sized chunk of temple rock lying by her head, covered in the blood pouring out of her. I looked behind me and saw Des about to throw another one. I shifted to a zig-zag running pattern and managed to avoid her shot. By the time she found another chunk, I was gone.

* * *

Sparkil Maclein- District Three female

 _That was way faster than three seconds._

That's what happen when you make a bomb out of coconuts and cold packets. You lose a bit of precision. When the explosives went off, a huge shockwave knocked me off my feet and blasted me backwards. Unfortuately, there was a tree behind me. The explosion threw me into it, bending me backward hard enough to make my back sore. I had worse problems than that, though. After the shockwave came the collapse of the temple. Rocks flew everywhere, including all over me. I was halfway buried in the detritus, and I couldn't get myself out.

"Des! Zibby! Someone! I'm stuck!" I yelled. I knew someone else might hear me, but I had to take the risk. I was seriously injured. My entire body was bruised, since the shockwave ruptured my blood vessels. When I yelled, one side of my chest felt funny, like my lung had collapsed. I knew at least one of my legs was broken. I started to use my metal arm to push some of the rocks away.

No one was coming. _They can't hear me._ My own voice sounded funny to me. Most of us were probably deaf. I coughed up some dust, and I tasted blood. I was dying. Even if they found me, I would die. We were too smart for our own good. Our plan worked so well it even killed us.

* * *

Martha Lewis- District Eight female

Something big must have happened. Seven cannons rang out, or at least it sounded like it. Something else blew up, too, so it was hard to tell what was explosion and what was a cannon.

It was probably a dumb idea, but I wanted to know what happened. If it was some cataclysm that was going to sweep across the Arena, it would be good to know where it was coming from, so maybe I could hide from it. I climbed a tree and tried to look over the canopy, but I wasn't that good at climbing, and a lot of trees were taller. I could just barely see a thin tendril of smoke coming from the center of the Arena.

 _Better stay away,_ I thought. I made my way back down the tree and moved the other way. With all the chaos happening there, I might be able to get some foraging in without worrying about the other Tributes.

The bushes on my left shuddered. I snapped my head in that direction and darted behind a tree. The bushes shook again, closer this time. If a Career was making noise, she would already be close enough to know where I was. Only Ember used a bow and she would have shot me already, so that meant it was someone who had to get close to me. I ran in the opposite direction, hoping I could get to somewhere the Career couldn't follow.

I ran between the trees, checking over my shoulder for my pursuer. As I ran past another tree, Madison popped out and hooked her whip around my throat. My legs jerked out from under me and I fell on my back. She hauled me closer, the metal slivers in the whip biting into my throat. As she hauled me in, I saw the pile of rocks she'd been throwing.

Madison planted her foot on my chest and jerked the whip up, yanking my head with it. The whip constricted around my throat, cutting almost entirely through it. For a long time, I'd been too scared to say anything. Now, even if I'd wanted to, I couldn't.

* * *

 **32nd place: Jasmine Ashenvale- Stabbed by Daisy**

 **Jasmine was neutral for a long time, but she had -2 votes this time. I needed a lot of people to die, so I brought some reality in and had everyone dazed and deaf from a big ol' explosion ten feet away. Daisy's not really a big threat, but if you're deaf, it's a lot easier to sneak up on you. Jasmine was quiet and underrated throughout. Had I not had to suddenly go double-time, she might have lasted a lot longer.**

 **31st place: Daisy Stem- Spattered by Des' rock**

 **Daisy IS something of an irregular character. She was a Career before that was as big a deal, so standards were way lower and she's a fail Career by modern standards. She doesn't look for fights but she is very loyal to her allies and doesn't really understand that stabbing KILLS people, so she went for it. Then she died, since she had -3 votes. RIP Daisy, the ditz Career.**

 **30th place: Sparkil Maclein- Internal injuries from shockwave**

 **Sparkil suddenly nosedived to -3 votes. Before that, she was usually around -1. Maybe people were mad about the explosion. Sparkil was really cool. She had a way cool metal arm and was smart but not a total genius cliche. She had a pretty big body count, even if that wasn't her plan.**

 **29th place: Martha Lewis- Strangled by Madison**

 **Since Martha did so bad the first time, I made it a project to really bump her up this time. I happened across Elective Mutism in my mind and went with that. It would probably be common in Tributes, I imagine. She did very well by hiding, and I explored the dehumanization that a survival-only mindset brings. She grew a lot, and she'll be even wiser next time.**

 **PS Daisy and the others also had hearing loss. It just affected some people worse than others because that's how these things happen.**


	74. HEY! VERY IMPORTANT!

**UPDATE: The Marines called. I told them I would go if they guaranteed me the bonus in writing, guaranteed me my specific job in writing, and guaranteed me a program that will get me promoted in writing. So it currently looks like I'm going. Lucky thing I have so little real world life that I can pound out the entire rest of the story! I'm even ahead of schedule now!**

* * *

 **TATSUYA HIKARU-** Hindi Kabyle

He was the friendly one. I hoped his sister was all right.

 **PEACH UNK-** Nash Forger

 _Just me now? I never would have thought._

 **TATIANA KOKOLO-** Desiree Redwood

I was going to miss that critter. I'd remember her every time I saw the moon.

 **HEMI SERGIUS-** Volvo Courvaile

I was afraid she would die trying to kill someone. Hemi was so complicated. She could be a tender nurse one day and a killer the next. Somehow it made sense to her.

 **VESPER LYND-** Ever Fellows

That was the girl who kept training like a maniac. It must have paid off, since she stayed this long.

 **KARYSSA EVANS-** Jessie Cabello

There weren't many other Careers left. Me and Madison were the only ones who were really willing to kill.

 **ANISE HAEFFELE**

 **ALINTA FINTAN**

 **DAISY STEM-** Ferrari Benz

All at once, I'd lost them all. Alinta because she was too small to run fast enough, Anise because her heart was too big to run away, and Daisy because of nothing but bad luck. That was the only reason I was the survivor. Just luck.

 **SPARKIL MACLEIN-** Zibby Spooley

We probably should have left a larger margin for error. I didn't think _we'd_ get killed by the bomb. Sometimes experiments don't work out.

 **JASMINE ASHENVALE-** Sammy Voltage

Jasmine was so cool. She had cool tattoos and she could carve cool things out of wood. I thought she was too cool to die.

 **MARTHA LEWIS-** Cavendar Jones

Martha was so quiet. I don't think I ever heard her talk. With this much stress, I wasn't surprised.

* * *

Gidget Ford- District Three male

There Jeanie went, _looking_ at me again. Didn't she know how annoying that was? And the way she kept squirming around, shaking the branches and sometimes knocking into me. She was really starting to piss me off.

 _Wow Gidget, who peed in your beans? Are you seriously mad at Jeanie for_ looking? _You haven't been this pissy since you were pregnant._ I shifted my legs a little _Nope, that's not it. I don't think Tributes get their periods. So why so grumpy?_

Jeanie stretched out her arms and sighed.

 _Oh my goodness, I can't believe you did that! I should shove you out of this tree! Wait, what the heck was that? Something is seriously wrong._

I scooched back carefully on the branch, getting a little distance from Jeanie as I figured out what was probably up. "Hey, Jeanie? Do I seem really annoying right now?"

"As a matter of fact..." Jeanie put her hands on her hips.

"We have to get away from each other," I said. "I think the Gamemakers put hormones in the air so we'd all fight."

Jeanie's glare evaporated. "Oh my gosh, you're right."

"What should we do?" I asked.

"I have an idea," Jeanie said. She started climbing down the tree, and I followed. "Hold your shirt over your nose like this and breathe through it. It might filter some out. Also breathe really fast. We'll both get lightheaded. Hard to fight if you can hardly stand up."

 _That is a reall stupid plan. And sometimes you need stupid plans._

* * *

Ferrari Benz- District Six female

All my allies were dead. That made me mad. Some of the people who killed them were still alive. That made me so mad. The grass kept scratching my legs. That made me so mad _._ Everything sucked, and I was _so mad!_ I just wanted to _fight_ someone!

"Hey!" I screamed. "I wanna fight someone! Anyone wanna fight me?!"

"I wanna fight you!" someone screamed back.

* * *

Vextrix Webb- District Eleven female

 _Heck yeah, I want to fight!_

For some reason, I was just furious. Just thinking about another Tribute, _any_ other Tribute, made me want to strangle them. I wished I'd grabbed a weapon at the Cornucopia just so I could kill people more easily. When I heard some girl hollering, I jumped right on it.

"You the one who wanted to fight?" I yelled at her.

"Yeah! You want to go?" she yelled back.

We ran at each other, clacking together at full speed. I was so intent on maiming and killing that I didn't even stop to make a plan, and neither did she. We swung wildly, gouging at eyes and ripping at each other's faces.

I grabbed a fist-sized rock and swung it at her face. She cranked her head sideways and grabbed a rock to match. I smashed my rock into her face, busting her teeth in. She barely flinched. She slammed her rock into my throat, then smashed it in again. I leaned forward and bit her nose. She grabbed my ear and sank her nails in, twisting it until the flesh ripped. Then she started to flop and hack underneath me. She rolled away and grabbed at her mouth, sucking it wet breaths. I wanted to keep fighting her, but it was getting harder and harder to breathe. I pulled at my collar as Ferrari flopped and finally went limp.

 _Now I have to find someone else to kill,_ I thought. But I wasn't going to be able to find anyone before I choked.

* * *

Patrick Donegal- District Four male

"Watch where you're going," I said when Jay stumbled over a rock.

"What, I can't trip? What's your problem?" he asked.

"You're my problem. All you ever do is whine about losing allies. There's only one Victor," I said. I barely heard the words as they came out. I only knew I was furious and I had to express it.

"What would you know about grief? You're a Career. Murderer," Jay said.

"That's right. I _am_ a Career. So you better watch out," I said.

"You going to kill me too, you heartless bastard?" Jay said. He shoved his hands into my chest, knocking me back.

"Maybe I want to know if your blood is as yellow as you are!" I yelled. And I did want to see his blood. I wanted to see it gush out and stain the leaves red. I wanted to feel his flesh give as my sword went through it.

Jay picked up a stick and swung it back. I stabbed him through the stomach and smiled as he slid wetly down the blade.

* * *

Ethel Bulhera- District Ten female

I always wanted to be a spy. Now, though, I wanted to be an assassin. I just wanted to wrap my hands around someone's neck and squeeze.

"Where are you, you little rats?" someone screamed. The bushes quaked as someone ran through them, heading towards me. I ducked behind a tree and let the girl get closer. As she ran by, I jumped out at her, leaping at her neck.

As I jumped at her, Jessie spitted me through on her sword. She flung me down on the ground and I tried to sit up as soon as I hit. Jessie slashed her sword across my front. Blood sprayed all over her chest and face, and she laughed insanely. Blood flecked her smiling teeth as she swung again and again. I kept trying to fight back until I had no blood left.

* * *

Ever Fellows- District Seven female

It didn't matter if there was no one around. I threw knives at trees, and rocks, and anything that moved. When I ran out, I gathered them back up and threw them again. When an actual boy came by, I relished the chance to watch my knife sink into the back of his head.

* * *

Nash Forger- District Twelve male

 _I've never killed someone. What does that feel like? It must make you feel very grown-up. If I killed someone, maybe I could even win! I don't care about that, though. I just want to kill someone. Anyone at all. Whoever I next come across, I'm going to-_

* * *

Cavendar Jones- District Eight female

Lyann and I grappled on the ground, both wrestling over the pipe gun she'd made out of a hollow reed. She missed me with her first shot, and that was going to be her downfall. This close, I could pound the life out of her barehanded. I punched her in the mouth and she bit my finger, severing the tip entirely. I shoved the bloody stump into her eye and she reeled back. I didn't even feel any pain. All I felt was an overwhelming urge to kill.

Lyann slammed her curled fist into the side of my neck. I felt a prick, but it was hardly anything. I kept tearing at her face. Then all my muscles went limp at once. I face-planted onto Lyann and she shoved me off sideways. She sat on my back and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling my neck back until I thought it would crack. I didn't care about that. I just wished I could move and get back to killing her.

* * *

Hindi Kabyle- District Three female

I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't stop running. Nothing would stop the horrible rage except killing someone. It didn't matter who it was. I just had to kill someone. They were all so stupid anyway. They deserved to die. It was right to kill them.

Amphilia must have felt the same way. As soon as she saw me, she ran at me and ran me through with her trident. As the life ran out of me, the feeling finally went away. I wondered what sort of horrible Indian monster caused this. It was nothing I'd ever heard of.

* * *

Madison English- District Two female

The stupid girl from Seven didn't run when I came for her. She threw one of her stupid little throwing knives. It hit me in the throat, not that I cared. I kept coming for her. She tried to throw another one, but she wasn't fast enough. My whip caught her full across the face. I could have made it quicker, but I didn't want to kill her. I wanted to murder her.

My whip made wonderful sprays of blood as I flayed her. I especially liked the way the first slash across her face leaked blood into her eyes, blinding her. She squealed like a girl as I tore the life from her.

Only after she was dead did I remember the knife in my throat. I tore it out and the blood came flooding. I looked around for someone else to kill, but there wasn't time.

* * *

 **I did a little snooping for Indian cataclysms and came across the thing where the world goes through cycles and each one brings huge chances. The next one due is Kali Yuga. When Kali Yuga is about to come, people will be inflamed with murderous rage. That was perfect, since I needed a lot of nonviolent Tributes to kill each other.**

 **28th place: Ferrari Benz- Choked on her own tooth**

 **Ferrari was dropping behind for a long time. She stuck it out until now, but it finally caught up with her. She lived big and so far she'd died hard three times. Maybe sometime she'll actually not die.**

 **27th place: Vextrix Webb- Ruptured windpipe**

 **Vextrix stayed in the background and that turned out great, since most people forgot to vote on her one way or another. There were finally few enough people that she went. She wasn't a fighter and actively avoided confrontation, but this time there were rage hormones in the air. If it wasn'y for Gamemaker interference, she would have lasted longer.**

 **26th place: Jay Dallas- Stabbed by Patrick**

 **I think Jay has done a lot of changing and developing. He's really become a man, and he matures more with each Arena. He thinks of others and sees the value in humanity that a lot of Panemians don't. Patrick's going to be really sad when he figures it out.**

 **25th place: Ethel Bulhera: Stabbed by Jessie**

 **Ethel was another one who flew under the radar. She wasn't strong enough to fight a lot of Tributes, so when the numbers thinned, people started to vote for her. She had a great imagination and would have done a lot in life. That's the tragedy of the Games.**

 **24th place: Nash Forger- Knife thrown by Ever**

 **Nash was the last of the little underdogs. There are young Tributes left, but Nash was one of the really small ones. He made it a long way, but no one thought he would win. At least he didn't have to kill anyone first.**

 **23rd place: Cavendar Jones- Strangled by Lyann**

 **Last time, Lyann made darts with rat poison. This time, she had frogs. Cavendar was a tenderhearted Tribute with big dreams. They didn't come true this time, but no one's ever really dead with Resurrection Games.**

 **22nd place: Hindi Kabyle- Stabbed by Amphilia**

 **Hindi stayed around +1 for most of the Games, and was only barely low enough to kill now. This Arena was perfect for her, and it was cool that she got to learn some about her own history. Since this wasn't a very accurate Kali Yuga, she wouldn't guess that was what they were going for.**

 **21st place: Ever Fellows- Torn open by Madison**

 **Ever has really changed. I thought she was one-dimensional at first, but she's been through a lot of moral quandaries since then, and she's a lot more interesting. I was hoping she might win, but her submitter is gone, so people voted against her. Maybe next time, when I'm picking the Victor.**

 **20th place: Madison English- Knife thrown by Ever**

 **Caleb was really hoping Madison would make it to the top 20. I don't really care the exact placings if the votes match, so I can be a bro. Ta-da. Top twenty. Madison was one of the last Careers and survived the horrors of the Career curse. She only died now because a ton of people did. For an unknown newbie to this universe, she did great.**


	75. UPLOADS AREN'T WORKING!

**The Marines satisfied my conditions, so I will be leaving on the 6th. I won't be able to write during boot camp since there's no contact allowed there, but I will resume my writing after I graduate. It might be slower to update, but I always say that.**

 **VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: We are now thinned enough that votes will change to FIVE life and FIVE death.**

 **STORY NOTE: Alinta and Anise were included in Ferrari's memoriam along with Daisy.**

* * *

Blake Armani- District One mentor

 _This is so humiliating._ We were the very first District out. Well, Ten and Twelve were, too, but that hardly made things better. We did as badly as the rednecks and the coal waifs? So embarrassing. Not to mention so many people that died again. We knew what we were getting into, but I still felt bad about it.

* * *

District One

This was one year best left forgotten. We couldn't win every time, but to be knocked out entirely while Two was still in it and Four had multiple Tributes? That hurt. As for the ones we lost again, they'd be back anyway.

* * *

Calvary Warsaw- District Ten mentor

Ethel was the one that stuck it out the longest. She was a nice enough girl, but none of us saw that coming. Bambi thought it would be Gael, and Cornflower was hoping for Mati. None of us really thought Ten would bring it home. There were just too many Tributes.

* * *

District Ten

Gael and Filly were the freshest. The others had been dead for a while, and their families had had time to move on. Losing Filly again was the worst thing possible for the already unstable Kozlovs. We hoped they'd get through it. Almost everyone in the District was connected to one of the fallen, so we were in this together.

* * *

Nubu Sanders- District Twelve mentor

This year broke my heart. It was all a cruel joke. They brought back so many kids who didn't have a chance, just to make them spend weeks in fear before they were killed again. I wished they'd let them stay dead.

District Twelve

Other than the Careers, Twelve had it the easiest. We never won, so we never hoped. As soon as our children left, we dug the graves. Bringing them back didn't give us any hope, and losing them again was no worse than the first time.

* * *

 **FERRARI BENZ-** Volvo Courvaile

It was just me from Six, then. I wouldn't have guessed it. Ferrari was so much bolder, and Hemi was so much more determined. I guess I had something I didn't realize.

 **VEXTRIX WEBB-** Daria Junius

I was the last of my District. I didn't know Vextrix, but she seemed so strong and tough. Sometimes little people won, though. Maybe it was a miracle year.

 **JAY DALLAS-** Patrick Donegal

It replayed in my mind as I stared at his face. I killed him. For no reason at all, I killed my friend. I kept reliving it over and over, and each time was like the first. I would never forgive the Capitol for what they did, or myself for not resisting it.

 **ETHEL BULHERA-** Sarla Mondins

She was another one of the littler ones, like me. They were cleaning us out. They were cleaning almost everyone out.

 **NASH FORGER-** Ally Tesla

I'd been in a tree when the madness came. By the time I got down, Nash had gone off to find someone else. I didn't find anyone before it went away. He must have.

 **CAVENDAR JONES-** Lyann Levett

I didn't even know her name before I killed her. In my heart, I was glad it happened. I didn't have to blame myself for this one.

 **HINDI KABYLE-** Emmeline Blythe

She knew so many things I'd never even heard of. So much knowledge died with her. That was what the Capitol wanted.

 **EVER FELLOWS-** Desiree Redwood

 _The knife-thrower._ That girl had been around for twenty years. One of these days, they wouldn't be able to stop her.

 **MADISON ENGLISH-** Ember Steiner

Just me and Jessie left for the real Careers. Just one expert fighter between me and victory. Of course, the others wouldn't die easily either.

* * *

Floki Grimm- District Four male

Why was I holding Ember above my head like I was about to pile drive her? And why did she have her arms around my neck and her teeth in my ear?

"Um... what are we doing?" Ember asked.

"I'm not sure," I said, gently setting her down.

"Something weird is going on. A second ago I wanted to kill you," Ember said.

"Me too! Except you," I said.

Ember got a disgusted, knowing look. "The Gamemakers did it. They sprayed rabies in the air or something."

"Oh." I'd thought it was just good old-fashioned bloodlust, like I used to have before I quieted down a little. While it was happening, it was kind of exhilerating. I'd hadn't been so unhinged in years. It used to be I intentionally drove myself to such a state. It was nostalgic to be like that again. I was still glad I didn't kill Ember, though.

"Did you notice any cannons?" I asked Ember.

"There was some noise, but I wasn't counting," Ember said. "I guess they wanted to speed things up."

"Sorry I tried to kill you," I said.

"Sorry I tried to kill _you,"_ Ember said. Which was funny, since we were going to try to in the end.

Ember pricked her head up on one side. "Do you hear something?" she asked.

"Maybe if _someone_ hadn't bitten my ear," I said. I turned to look in the direction she'd pointed her head.

A faint sun-dog shone in the light, but other than that, there was nothing. I took a few steps closer, so I could see if anything was there. My body collided with something flat and solid, like a pane of glass. As soon as I did, electricity shot through me, sending me flying back. I smelled my own charred flesh as I hit the ground.

 _Gamemakers again,_ I thought. They really should tell someone before they move the force field.

* * *

Emmeline Blythe- District Three female

The air was humming. When I looked in the direction of the hum, I saw the air shimmer for a single instant. I knew immediately it was the force field. And if I was so close I could hear it, I needed to run.

There was no way to tell how fast the force field was moving, or how far it would go. I had to just keep running. I didn't hear the humming anymore, which was a good sign. Or it might just mean they knew we could hear it and turned the power down. They might have turned the power down, but it would still be enough to fry us.

I stopped for a minute to catch my breath, leaning against a tree. As I panted, the bark under my hand shifted, and I froze. I looked at the bark and saw the white stripes I hadn't noticed in my panic. Two tiny serpentine eyes opened up and looked back at me.

It was all in the snake's hands now. _That's funny, because snakes don't have hands._ The black humor popped into my head as the snake shifted again and started to slither out from under my hand. It curled its neck back and flicked its tongue. I knew I had to keep running, but if I made any sudden moves, it might attack. I could only hope it moved on before the force field got me.

The snake shot forward and bit my hand. I stared in horror as it hissed, then slithered away. Numbness spread through my arm.

 _It's a neurotoxin, then,_ I thought. _Faster than hemotoxin. It will deactivate all my muscles, leaving them in a relaxed state. That includes my diaphragm, which moves my lungs. It also includes my heart..._

My brain wasn't a muscle, so that stayed right until the end. The worst part was that it was entirely meaningless. All the intelligence in the world couldn't solve something like this.

* * *

Sarla Mondins- District Five female

There were two cannons yesterday. There weren't many of us left. I wasn't sure exactly how many were still here, since I didn't remember how many cannons went off during the time I was all angry for no reason. I was just glad no one else was around to take me up on it when I was looking for someone to fight.

A lot of people might have felt optimistic after making it so far. Instead, I felt increasing dread with each coming cannon. People like me didn't win, and I was painfully conscious that somewhere out there, my cannon was waiting. Every minute brought me closer, and eventually I'd see it. I could run, and I could hide, but no matter what, everyone still had to die.

After all this time, I felt more at home in the Arena than in Five. It had been so long that I wasn't even sure what Five looked like anymore. All my friends would be grown with children of their own. It seemed so far away and unreal that I had ever lived in a place where I didn't fear for my life all the time. It used to be I had a bed and I ate food my parents or Daniel cooked. I lived in a house. I didn't sleep in the open every night, wondering if someone would kill me before I woke up.

It would be like ressurrecting again if I won. I would feel reborn into that old world. Before I got Reaped, we kids talked about winning the Games. We talked about having jewelry and fancy food and all the pretty clothes. Now, the first thing that came to mind was being able to sleep. I could just lie down on a real, normal bed, with blankets and sheets and pillows. I would have my own door, and I could close it and no one could come in. No one would be hunting me anymore. I wouldn't have to wake up scared.

An arrow through my chest stopped my dreaming. That was all it ever would be. Over and over I would come back, and I would dream of winning. I usually lasted so much longer than I thought. If I kept going that way, someday my dream might come true.

* * *

 **We don't have a million Tributes anymore, so a huge Arena would just waste time.**

 **19th place: Floki Grimm- Killed by force field**

 **Unfortunately, a lot of Tributes didn't get to develop as much as they should have, since I had to frantically finish this. (OMG this speed is basically writing a normal SYOT in a week). Floki was one of those. I'm sorry so many people didn't get the attention they deserved, but on the bright side, this means I'll just have to do another Resurrection Games in the future and do it right!**

 **18th place: Emmeline Blythe- bitten by krait**

 **Emmeline is one of my more favored Tributes. I consider her the most intelligent Tribute in this universe, just in pure intellect. Unfortunately, that makes her smart enough to know that the skills needed to win the Games are the ones she doesn't have. And anyway there's nothing to do if a dickish krait bites you when you didn't even do anything to it. Emmeline's submitter is gone, I think, which is why people voted against her.**

 **17th place: Sarla Mondins- Shot by Ember**

 **Sarla is another pet of mine. I love how much she's matured due to so much Arena time, and I think it would be really cool if she won. Her submitter is gone, though, so people voted against her. Most of them also liked her, though.**

 **VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!**

 **Now that we have a smaller pool, the votes are changing to FIVE death and FIVE life votes.**


	76. SEND ONE VICTOR VOTE SO I CAN FINISH

Sammy Voltage- District Five female

We got so lucky with the murder dust. Zibby tried to rig up some death ray, but she was so insane she eventually figured out she as just banging metal bottles together. Shinju and I both attacked Des. Shinju just kept biting her arm, and I was so small Des held me at arm's length with no difficulty. Since Shinju and I kept getting in the way, Des didn't kill either of us before the murder dust dissipated. So basically, we were really terrible murderers. But actually I was the only one of us who had never killed someone.

Zibby noticed about the force field right away, so we moved closer to the center of the Arena. All of us were nervous, since everyone was so much closer together now. We were the biggest alliance left, so we shouldn't have been too scared. Des especially, since she was big enough to kill anyone left. She only had to worry about Jessie and Ember.

"Who do you think will win of everyone left? If it's not one of us," I asked everyone.

"Jessie seems the most skilled," Zibby said.

"I think it will be Ember. She's meaner than Jessie," Des said.

"I hope it's Ally," Shinju said, looking at the ground. "How about you?"

"I hope it's one of the underdogs," I said. "Maybe Gidget. She's so nice."

"If we're _hoping,_ I hope it's Violet, so Seven will get loot. Or Daria. Just because she's pretty," Des said.

"Jeanie is the prettiest," I objected.

"Pardon you, but the correct answer is Jessie," Zibby said.

"Who's the handsomest, though? There are only three boys left," I said.

"By default, at least Patrick has a warrior thing going on," Des said.

"Patrick's the manliest," I agreed.

"I like Kerry. He's such a squirrel," Shinju said.

"Guess that leaves me with Volvo," Zibby said.

"Glad that's settled," I said.

* * *

Amphilia Fortune- District Four

It felt like we were down to the wire, but we were actually only midway through a normal year. I wasn't sure how much smaller the Arena was, but I suspected it was probably smaller than normal. The Gamemakers were as tired as we were.

I was so focused on watching for any telltale shimmers that I didn't notice Patrick until he was much closer than I would have wanted. He must have been thinking the same thing, since he didn't notice me either. I ducked behind a tree and waited for him to get closer. If it had been anyone but him, Ember, or Jessie, I would have kept moving. I wanted nothing to do with killing innocent children. Careers were another story.

Patrick always seemed like a halfhearted Career, so his reflexes surprised me. He dodged aside as I shoved my trident at his midsection. He grabbed my arm and wrenched me downwards. I yanked back, knowing he expected me to try to push forward. He toppled closer to me and I turned the trident back toward him, hoping he would impale himself. He twisted enough that it tore a deep wound in his side instead of going through him. While the trident was still in his flesh, he grabbed the handle and pulled it back at the same time as he knocked his shoulder into my chest. I toppled back onto my butt. While I was getting my legs underneath me to stand, he stabbed his sword into my chest. Then he bent over the trident in his side and staggered a few feet away.

 _You didn't want someone else to have to die._ I volunteered so Wrasse wouldn't massacre the children she would have been released upon. No matter how many times they made me do it again, all it meant was that she didn't have the same chance.

* * *

Zibby Spooley- District Nine female

"Do you have a lot of school in your Districts, or do you stop early so you can work?" I asked my allies.

"In Seven we just have kindergarten. Us stupid lumberjacks don't need no reading, right?" Des snarked.

"It's not like _that,"_ I said. "It's not like Nine is known for its wonderful education. Most of us drop out in third grade, when you're old enough to be a thread knotter," I said. I was just trying to make conversation. Sometimes I wasn't so good at picking interesting topics.

"No one cared if an orphan went to school," Shinju said.

"My parents wanted me to stay in, but it was hardly worth it. I was so bad at everything," Sammy said.

"You seem like a smart girl," Shinju said.

"I always get all the letters messed up," Sammy said. "It's not my fault they all look the same."

"Oh, you're dyslexic?" Des asked.

"Go ahead and blurt it out, why don't you?" Sammy said, but she didn't seem mad. "You know what's really dumb? A long time ago, some scientist said 'we need a word for when you're bad at spelling. Better make sure the word is _insanely difficult to spell!'"_

"You scramble up letters?" I asked. I always thought it was weird when people had a hard time with things I thought were really easy. I didn't realize not scrambling up letters was something I'd been taken for granted all this time.

"For most people, letters stay still when they read. For me, they sometimes move around when I'm in the middle of a word," Sammy said.

 _"_ Well that would be a pain," I said. Sammy looked up to say something, and her eyes suddenly flew wide open at something over my shoulder. Then it was my turn to be in pain, right in the back of the head.

* * *

Patrick Donegal- District Four male

Amphilia's trident was still stuck deep inside me. It hadn't killed me yet. If I pulled it out, it definitely would. If I left it in, that was hardly better. Unless someone sent medicine or the Games ended fast, I was in bad shape.

I wasn't sure I wouldn't bleed to death even without taking it out. I was keeping pressure on the wound as best I could, but that was hardly enough for a wound this size. I was dizzy from blood loss, and I had to rest every five minutes just from walking.

 _This might be it,_ I thought. _Shane might lose me again._ I knelt in the grass to catch my breath. I'd already hurt him so much. He'd been through so much even before I did this to him. Didn't he deserve to be happy? I didn't, not after what I did to Jay. Shane had so many nightmares. He never killed his friend.

When Jessie appeared, walking toward me without fear, I knew it was over. She could see the state I was in. She knew she didn't even have to fight me. She was blank-faced as she came, and her sword made a metallic noise as it scraped out of her scabbard. I looked up at her and did the one thing I could still do for my brother.

"It's okay. I don't want to be a Victor," I lied.

* * *

 **Ha ha, I added a POV where someone didn't die, since I knew everyone knew I was writing super fast and thought all the POVs would be deaths. I also made sure it was for someone small and not as strong, so everyone thought they were definitely toast.**

 **16th place: Amphilia Fortune- Stabbed by Patrick**

 **Amphilia was really close to dying for a long time at the start of the Games. She picked up some traction and stayed alive a long time, but now we're finally getting close to the end and people are getting ruthless. Amphilia had a strict moral compass and a sacrificial streak, both of which worked against her. She was one of the ones that might deserve to win, but because of that, probably won't.**

 **15th place: Zibby Spooley- Shot by Ember**

 **People turned against Zibby after a long time supporting her because she was just too good at killing. She was a threat, that's all there is to it. She always manages to net herself a huge body count, even though she's not a Career or a lunatic. She just sees things clinically, and death is nothing but a data point to her. Now she knows another way not to win a Hunger Games.**

 **14th place: Patrick Donegal- Beheaded by Jessie**

 **I'm sad about this one. I really like Shane, and I'm sorry he has to go through this. Patrick made a fatal mistake when he first volunteered, and he's been trying to get over it ever since. I hope someday he does.**

 **If I get enough votes in time, I'll try to write another chapter, since I'll be gone tomorrow night with my Dad on a going-away trip and I don't have much time to lose if I want to finish this.**


	77. SPOILER DES JEANIE KERRY ARE DEAD

**I shall finish this! I shall not give in! Don't worry, no one is pressuring me. I just don't want to get this close and wimp out.**

* * *

Lyann Levett- District Nine female

Jessie came at me like a tiger, running straight for me. She was wearing a metal helmet, so I couldn't aim at her face. Instead I took aim at her chest, which was a larger target anyway.

 _Plink!_

The darts made tiny pinging noises and stuck into Jessie's shirt, but she didn't stop running. Poison didn't take that long to work, and darts didn't ping. Jessie was wearing a chestplate, too. She was just wearing it under her shirt. I could only run.

Jessie was awfully fast for someone wearing armor. Her pieces must have been very thin- only thick enough to stop a wooden dart. I darted between trees and around bushes, hoping they would get in the way of her swing if she caught up.

Something thin and sharp slashed my legs. My feet tangled in something hard and I fell forward. I drew my legs under me and noticed it was a sword I'd tripped over. Jessie had taken a gamble and thrown her sword at my feet, hoping for just this result. I grabbed at the weapon, but Jessie reached me and kicked me in the face. I reached into my pocket for another dart. I only had to stab it into her leg.

Pain exploded through me as Jessie pushed her sword through my stomach, one had on the blade for stability. A thin trickle of blood dripped off her hand and mingled with mine. Both of us were panting, but after a few minutes, one of us stopped.

* * *

Ember Steiner- District Two female

Lyann was running from someone. She didn't even notice me in the distance as she tore by. Instead of going after her, I hung back. A few seconds later, Jessie revealed herself as the pursuer. Sometimes it was better to let someone else take care of things. Not even a minute later, Lyann was dead. Jessie was sweating and out of breath, and I had a bow.

I took aim and shot Jessie in the chest, since she was wearing a helmet. She screamed and put her hand to the wound. Blood covered her shirt, but she stood anyway. She followed the trajectory back to me and charged.

 _Okay, if you want to make the target even bigger,_ I thought as I shot again. Jessie staggered but kept coming. After drawing another arrow, I realized she was going to reach me. She wouldn't be very strong by then, but it was better to be safe. I drew my sword and squared myself.

 _Oh._ I figured it out right when Jessie got within range. She was wearing a breastplate. That was why her chest looked a little swollen. And why she wasn't dead. In the instant I was figuring it out, Jessie swung her own sword. The instant of distraction made me a hair too slow. I stepped aside fast enough to save my arm, but she cut my left hand nearly entirely off.

The battle had switched completely in that second. I had one chance before shock overpowered adrenaline, and I took it. I stared at Jessie's heart, like I was going to stab extra hard and make sure the job was done this time. Jessie pretended to take a stance that defended against torso attacks, but I knew she was preparing to strike back when my sword bounced off. As I struck, I swerved up at the last second. My sword sliced into Jessie's throat- the only part of her that wasn't armored.

As she fell, I looked down at my hand. Even I hardly ever saw that much blood. I'd killed Jessie, but I'd done it from the grave.

* * *

Jessie Cabello- District Two female

I was bleeding out faster than Ember was. It was too late for both of us. I wondered if she knew, and if she didn't, would she have done it if she had. I'd wanted to make a new life for myself. If I was a Victor, I could cut my father off forever. I could change my name and deny I ever knew him. I would be my own person. I would have lost my entire family, but there was hardly anything of value to lose. My father wouldn't even miss me. He would just miss the glory he never had. I hoped I would see Chrome again. That would make all of this worth it.

* * *

Volvo Courvaile- District Six male

I wasn't even scared when I noticed Gidget. She was sitting by the river trying to wash some of the mud out of her socks. Her bare feet looked laughably innocent compared to all the carnage we'd been through. I must have moved around too much, because she looked up, saw me and jumped.

"It's okay. It's just me. Not a Career," I said. Of all the people in the Arena, Gidget was perhaps the least dangerous. No one who had a child would take someone else's away.

"There aren't any of those left, are there?" Gidget asked. Jessie and Ember were both in the sky last night. Only us outliers were left. Gidget stayed in place while I came up and sat near her.

"Have you been here long?" Gidget asked. "I haven't seen anyone here lately."

"I just came to refill my water," I said. "I was out farther, but the force field moved. Hey, weren't you with Jeanie?"

"She took off. I guess she didn't want to kill me," Gidget said.

"None of us do," I said. "I don't think anyone who's left wants to kill anyone."

Something pricked at me, and I looked behind me. Jeanie was walking toward us from the jungle. _Was she behind a tree this whole time?_ I glanced at Gidget and saw it was true. Her face had guilt written all over it. She threw herself at my legs as I tried to stand, tangling me up and knocking me back down. Jeanie reached us and they surrounded me, holding me down together.

"I'm so sorry," Gidget said, tears flowing from her guilty eyes. Jeanie shifted to pick up a rock while still using most of her weight to pin me down. Gidget looked at her pleadingly.

"You have to get home. Your children need you," Jeanie said.

"Do you want them to see their mother do this?" I asked. Gidget shuddered and closed her eyes, but she didn't let me go. I wiggled and thrashed in increasing panic as Jeanie lifted the rock over my face. Gidget started to sob. Even before I died, someone was mourning me.

* * *

Daria Junius- District Eleven female

People were dying in heaps. I'd lost count of the cannons. There couldn't be many of us left, though. There were so many cannons every day. It was like all of Panem was in here.

I crept toward the river, bottle in hand. I hated getting water. The river was the perfect place to lay an ambush. Everyone needed water eventually. There were no trees on the very edge, so the air was open. Anyone hiding in the rainforest could see me a lot better than I could see them.

When I reached the edge of the trees, I darted out, trying to get my water as quickly as possible. I shoved my bottle into the muddy water and scooped it out. I peeked over my shoulder and didn't see anyone, but that didn't mean no one was there. I turned back and screwed the bottle top back on.

The river burst up into my face. Water sprayed everywhere, and something seized me around the middle. It yanked me forward so quickly and sharply that I dropped the bottle. The water smacked into my face as the thing that grabbed me pulled me under. For an instant, I saw the crocodile. Then it rolled.

* * *

 **13th place: Lyann Levett- stabbed by Jessie**

 **Lyann has her own weird brand of intelligence that works really well. If I had to give it a name, I'd say she has one of the highest common sense levels of all the Tributes. She makes things work and doesn't mope around. It did really well for her, since she's thirteenth of about a hundred and fifty Tributes. I think she only didn't get more life votes because she was quiet and people overlooked her.**

 **12th place: Jessie Cabello- Stabbed by Ember**

 **I was hoping Jessie might win. There are lots of people where I'd be happy if they win, and one of them was Jessie. I think it would be good for her if she won. A lot of people voted against her because they didn't want her to have to deal with her father, but I think she could cut him out of her life. Maybe next time...**

 **11th place: Ember Steiner- Blood loss caused by Jessie**

 **There goes the last Career. I was also hoping Ember might win. She deserves it in a lot of ways, and I feel bad for Crag. I would have touched on that more with more time, so chalk Ember up as another character who didn't get everything she should have. She's still popular, though, so maybe she'll win some other time.**

 **10th place: Volvo Courvaile- Drowned**

 **Jeanie and Gidget couldn't bear to smash his head, so instead they dragged him to the river and positioned his head underwater. (This seems like a shocking swerve for Jeanie, but her submitter said she'd kick it up a notch since they were so close to the end). Volvo suffered the most when the votes were cut down. He didn't gain any death votes, but people tended to trim him from their life votes. I guess they just had to cut someone. Volvo has a lot of bad luck in his history, and here's one more piece.**

 **9th place: Daria Junius- Eaten by mugger crocodile**

 **Apparently India has "mugger crocodiles". That sounds pretty sucky. But in a fake story, that's pretty cool. You just go get some water and BAM mugger crocodile, sucker! Daria also got trimmed from the life votes, probably because she was skimmed over in the story. That's my fault. It was either kill a lot of people without giving them the time they deserved, or don't finish the story. Sorry it got rushed like this. It seemed like the lesser of two evils.**

 **I'll do the obituaries and cannons if I have time. I think everyone would rather do the really important stuff first.**


	78. Faster Faster Faster

**HEY SUCKERS GUESS WHO FOUND A WORKAROUND?! It wouldn't let me upload a chapter, but it WOULD let me edit one already in the doc manager! So I pasted the new chapter in! Gotta get up pretty early to get past ME!**

* * *

Shinju Matsushita- District Three female

In my hand I held a little hair clip. It was light blue, and it had a tiny light on it. The light wasn't big enough to give me any help, and it was solar powered so I couldn't take it apart for components. I'd chosen it as my token to remind me of Lyte. He believed in me when everything about me said I was beyond saving. It was my inspiration, but it was also my anchor. Without him, I didn't know if there was anything in me to keep me from going back to the way I was. I couldn't trust myself, but I could trust that little piece of Lyte to hold me accountable.

Someone was crying. It was so loud I could hear it. I could tell it wasn't Des, and she was the only really scary Tribute left. With anyone else, it was safe enough to get a little closer and take a look.

It was Gidget. She was sitting on a rock with her face buried in her arm. No one else was around and she wasn't hurt, so I didn't know why she was crying. _What if it's her children?_ I thought. We didn't usually get outside news in the Arena, but maybe Acee sent her a note. I couldn't even imagine something like that. I'd never had a bond with anyone like a mother had with her children. I wanted to do something to make it better.

 _I can't help her. It isn't safe._ This wasn't the normal world. In the Arena, we couldn't afford to help each other. Even if I did, she would think it was a trick. I should keep moving.

My hair clip seemed heavier suddenly. _That's not what Lyte would do._ I waved to catch Gidget's eye, then moved in.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"That's why you came over? To ask if I was okay?" Gidget asked, wiping at her eyes.

"It's the right thing to do," I said.

Tears filled Gidget's eyes again. She glanced up. "You need to go _right now!"_ She jumped up at me, startling me so much I took a step back. Of course I had to see what see was looking at, so I looked up, just as Jeanie hit me. The spear-sized sharpened stick tucked under her arm punched through me with the force of the landing, almost pinning me to the dirt.

I tried to help someone, and it got me killed. Weirdly, my greatest hope had come true. I was just like Lyte.

* * *

Jeanie Clay- District Nine female

"What did you do that for? She almost got away," I sad to Gidget.

"I couldn't do it. She was trying to help," she said.

"I know how hard this is. None of us wants this. But you have to get home. You can't stop now. You're almost there," I said. With every word that came out, I realized I was becoming. When I started out, I wanted to save myself this time. I knew I might not win, but I wanted to be someone who deserved winning. If I won, I wanted it to be a happy ending. Now I was manipulating a desperate mother into staying with me because I knew the only way I could beat Des was with her. Some people might say the end justified the means, but I knew who wrote that book.

I could only keep up the charade so long. No matter how much I told Gidget we were a team, we both knew what was coming. If everything went well, we'd be the final two. Until that moment came, I refused to consider it. I wasn't going to think about what I would do.

"Let's get out of here," I said. We wandered about until the cliff came into view. It felt like we were drawing nearer to an inevitable conclusion. So many books ended on the stormy edge of a cliff. One character or another disappeared into the water, and the climax was over.

"I can't do this anymore," Gidget said, looking down at the river far below us.

"Maybe you're right," I said. Maybe I was closer to that edge than I thought.

Gidget was thinking about something else. I wanted to give her a minute alone. I left her at the cliff and crossed the thin border of grass that lined the cliff, settling under a peach tree.

 _What am I going to tell her?_ I picked up my head to take another look and hopefully make my decision. But when I looked up, there wasn't any time to say anything. Gidget was still looking over the cliff. Des was right behind her.

The climax had come. There was no more time to consider. My nature was about to show itself. I made my choice.

* * *

Desiree Redwood- District Seven female

I wasn't going to take any pride in this one. Gidget was a mother. What I was about to do was ghastly, but there was no way around it. Someone was bound to kill her eventually. Gidget would never win the Games. I snuck up behind her and picked up a knee to kick her off the edge.

With one leg off the ground, there was nothing to do when Jeanie hit me. I tipped over sideways with her still on top of me, both of us going over the edge. I twisted around as the back of my knee hit the cliff edge, grabbing for anything I could get a hold of. She tried, too, but there was nothing but silty dirt and smooth stone.

I wondered which of us would hit the bottom first. I might should have hoped it would be Jeanie, but I wasn't resentful. I wasn't an evil person. I was just trying to win, the same way Jeanie must have been.

* * *

Kerry Selmosa- District Five male

Whatever that roaring was in the distance, I didn't like the sound of it. I cleared out right away, moving anywhere else. The roaring kept coming, though. It moved all around me. It either knew where I was and was taunting me, or it didn't know and was minding its own business. _Boy, wouldn't it be just my luck if it_ was _minding its own business and when I moved, I moved right into its path._ Whatever it was roared again. It sounded like a lion, but like the Gamemakers added a bit of human voice to make it creepier.

After the two cannons a couple of hours ago, there were only six of us left. I was so close I could feel it. Out of a hundred and fifty people, I was five people away. It didn't even seem possible.

Luckily, I saw the lion before it saw me. It was crouched on the ground mostly behind a tree, standing over a tangle of human limbs. _Oh good, it already caught someone,_ I thought morbidly. _Poor thing. Her cannon hasn't gone off yet._

The lion raised its head, and I saw how wrong it was. The limbs under it weren't a Tribute's. The lion-man stood upright on its two human legs and spread its two human arms. As I fled, it screamed after me, sounding much more like a man.

 _I can't outrun a lion. I can't even outrun a man,_ I thought. I picked a tree and started climbing. _I couldn't climb if I had a big old lion head. I would be way too top-heavy._

The lion-man didn't have that problem. It started up after me, its movements unnatural for both man or beast. When I saw it was going to be able to reach me, I took the chance I had to take and leaped off my branch to the tree next to me. I made the leap, but the branch snapped under my weight. It wasn't that far to the ground, though. I landed on my back with a twig painfully under me, but I was able to get up. Or I would have been, if the lion-man hadn't pounced down onto me.

* * *

Violet White- District Seven female

I climbed along the slippery rocks at the bottom of cliff near the waterfall, trying to reach the shallow water where I could get a drink and the clear water would let me see anything that might grab me. I leaned on the slick rocks for balance, paranoid that I would trip, fall into the water, hit my head, and die in fourth place because I was a klutz.

The waterfall sent a mist of water onto my back. I thought it would cool me down, but it prickled at my skin and burned a little. I wiped it off and turned around to see that one of the gray rocks I'd used for support had uncoiled into a twenty-foot millipede. The "waterfall mist" was its defensive venom, which explained why it irritated my skin. Millipede spray wasn't normally dangerous to humans, but a twenty-foot millipede definitely wasn't normal. Even as I considered that, my skin started to throb and turn red. I backed away from the monstrous millipede and into the shallow water, knowing it couldn't swim. It solved that problem by lurching its front half forward and grabbing me with its two front pairs of feet. It picked me up off the ground and set me down right in front of it. As it did, it sprayed me again, all over this time. When I tried to pull myself from its legs, it grabbed me with a dozen more pairs, each hooking into my clothes and scratching at my already burning skin. I closed my eyes and turned my head so I wouldn't be blinded. It didn't save me, but it meant I didn't have to watch myself die.

* * *

 **8th place: Shinju Matsushita- Impaled by Jeanie**

 **Shinju wasn't originally going to die in this chapter. When I started gathering Victor votes, she didn't get any, so I modified her POV to speed things up. I was hoping Shinju would win, since everyone knows I love redemption arcs. Had things not been so horribly rushed, it might have been different, but it also might not have been. Shinju was the projected Victor for a LONG time. Since chapter one, she was at +6 votes, which was by far the most (fun fact Kerry was second at +4 to +6), and she stayed that way until maybe five chapters ago, so maybe next time will be her moment. The death method was already in my head, so it's just a hilarious coincidence the vampire ended up getting staked.**

 **7th place: Jeanie Clay- Fell off cliff**

 **Jeanie attacked Des, so it seemed fair she died first. But then Des attacked Gidget, so maybe whatever. Anyway, Jeanie was conflicted all along. her superego wanted her to be a hero, while her id wanted her to stay alive. Superego won out in the end, and she proved that at heart she is good. Her submitter said if it was her and Gidget she wouldn't kill her, so since she got voted out here instead, I did the matching thing. Jeanie always does great, so here's looking forward to next time.**

 **6th place: Desiree Redwood- Fell off cliff**

 **Had I been able to do this at the normal speed, Des would have done more damage. She's not a maniac, but she IS both huge and pragmatic. She always does well. She got 2nd her first time, like 4th the second, and 5th this time. So all that's left is number one, really. Or third, which would be sad and funny.**

 **5th place: Kerry Selmosa- Eaten by narasimha**

 **OMG I forgot Kerry's obituary! Anyway, he dead. He was WAY popular at first, then took a nosedive at the very end once people only got a very few votes. He did the Games his own way and did very well by cleverly scaling the temple. Had it not fallen down, I'm not sure how I would have gotten him killed. Mosquito, maybe?**

 **4th place: Violet White- Eaten by giant millipede**

 **This one wasn't a coincidence. I was feeling mean, so I had Violet get eaten by a bug. Hashtag revenge, am I right? I think Violet got this far mostly because people forgot about her about halfway through. It kind of amuses me that that worked so well for her. She was the only one of the final eight that didn't get any Victor votes, so I canned her. I am very glad she got the time and spotlight she got shafted out of her first time around, though.**

 **HUGE VOTE UPDATE: there are three people left. Send in your single vote for Victor, everyone! If you already sent in a Victor vote, I have it written down.**


	79. Finish Line

**Not gonna lie, I got a little weird.**

* * *

Ally Tesla- District Five female

"Tributes, the day of judgment has arrived."

It wasn't the same voice as before. I didn't think it was fake, either, since it was a man's voice. It was a booming, deep male voice with a strange accent I'd never heard before. It definitely didn't sound like a voice to be trifled with. Then the sky went dark. Red words appeared in the blackness.

 _TEMPLE RUINS TEMPLE RUINS TEMPLE RUINS_

 _Guess I'll go to the temple ruins._ I made my way through the jungle, noting the scenery as I went. Something as big as this could only be the finale. For better or for worse, this would be my last day in the Arena.

While I was still far off from the temple, I saw the statue. It was of a man at least fifty feet tall, with royal blue skin and dressed in yellow robes. Two elephantine tusks jutted from his mouth, one on either side. He held a long noose in one hand, and a lion and a bull were carved at his feet. Sammy was already there at his feet, looking up at his curiously. She didn't run away when I approached.

"Guess this is it," she said. "You looking for a fight? Because I'm really not."

"I don't think any of us are," I said. "That's why they had to call us here." It had been five days since the last batch of Tributes died. Nothing at all had happened. We'd put it off as long as we could, but the voice was right. It was judgement day.

Gidget arrived twenty minutes later, crashing foliage signaling her arrival. She saw us sitting near each other and joined in.

"What do you think we should do?" she asked. "I can't lie. I'm not going to kill anyone else."

"I don't think I even _can,"_ I said.

"I don't know what to do," Sammy said.

"I think they know we're not going to fight," Gidget said. "We'll just have to wait and see."

When something appeared in the sky, we all flinched. But it was only a trio of parachutes.

* * *

Sammy Voltage- District Five female

I never dreamed I would get this far. I was so close to getting home. Something big was about to happen, and it just might be my victory.

Three parachutes landed in the space between the three of us, each marked with one of our names. I opened mine and found a rainbow layered ice cream sundae in a tapered glass, along with a bowl of candy and a stuffed rabbit.

 _See you soon! You better enjoy this. I had to sell like a million carvings- Camellia_

"Oh, sweet! I love cake," Gidget said, holding a huge slice in one hand and a stuffed panda in the other.

Ally squealed in delight. We both looked over as she lifted an orange tabby kitten out of her box. It mewed and wrapped its tiny legs around her arm, scampering up onto her shoulder and jumping down into her lap.

"You got a kitten? That doesn't seem fair," I said, but I was happy for Ally. I'd heard someone mention once she always wanted a kitten.

"I don't know how this is going to work. What do you say we enjoy these presents and wait for whatever is going to happen?" Gidget said. None of us wanted to outright say we wouldn't fight and defy the Gamemakers, so we agreed with our silence.

"Whoever wins, they should know that we're both happy for them," I said. "You're both great. I'm glad you're here with me."

The statue shifted, startling us all at it revealed itself to actually be a mutt. The blue head tilted down and addressed one of us.

"Ally Tesla, be judged."

* * *

Ally Tesla-District Five female

When the statue called my name, my heart skipped. I expected to immediately die, but nothing happened. I stood up. The kitten was still in my arms, so I passed her to Sammy before I walked to the statue's feet.

"Ally Tesla. Why do you deserve life?" the statue asked. I started to prepare my answer, unsure how I would even communicate something like that, but the Arena answered for me. The words winked out of the sky, replaced by a series of images and clips from my past appearances in the Arena. I saw myself training on my first trip, then getting murdered by Shinju. The bulk of the content was from the Capitol. I watched myself tell Shinju I forgave her, and I was happy everyone got to see that clip and know what Shinju was really like. I saw myself talking with my allies, laughing with Soya and Addie, telling Filly to come to bed.

The images reached their end, and the statue's empty black eyes looked into my own. He looked back up, dismissing me, and I returned to the circle.

 _Was that good? Was that a good answer?_ It was out of my hands now. I scooped my kitten back into my lap.

"Her name is Ellie," I told the others while the statue was still looking out at nothing, in case it didn't go my way.

Gidget Ford- District Three female

"Gidget Ford, be judged."

I took my place at the statue's feet and waited for him to greet me.

The pictures didn't show what I expected. First I saw a close-up of me trying not to cry as I said goodbye to Max and Connex, but I didn't see them. I saw myself first meeting my allies and going into labor on stage. Then there were a bunch of little moments- helping Allecia reach a button high up on an elevator, laughing at something Briar said, trying to throw knives with a watermelon belly. Then this Arena's clips started. I saw Jeanie, and it was like she was alive again. I wanted to reach into the sky and pull her back to the earth. It ended with her falling over the cliff and me reaching down after her.

I didn't know what the verdict was. How do you judge a person? There are so many different creeds people live by. No matter the answer, Ally and Sammy also deserved to live. There was no right answer. The giant in front of us wasn't an oracle. It was just an instrument of the Capitol.

* * *

Sammy Voltage- District Five female

"Sammy Voltage, be judged."

It might have been proud, but I thought my recap was the coolest. My pictures and videos were from the Survivor Games. I got to see myself doing crazy things like building a pyramid out of blocks and holding onto a pole while people tried to pry me off. They also showed the little moments, like eating coconut. I liked the part where I found out Camellia, Hannah and Bailey were alive, but they could have skipped the part where I face-planted playing volleyball with Camellia. From this Games, it was mostly shots of me with my allies. I never would have dreamed I would be the last one.

Somehow, the pictures were more than the sum of their parts. The way they were chosen and arranged, they summed me up entirely. It was like seeing my essence, and not just a replay. Everyone knew what kind of person I was now.

"That's everyone," I said when my turn was over."What do you think all that means?"

"He's going to pick the winner," Ally said. She held her kitten to her chest.

"Hope he doesn't take too long. I got things to do," Gidget said.

* * *

Ally Tesla- District Five female

"Was it really fun on the island?" I asked Sammy.

"It was pretty wild," she said.

"I wish I had a better first Games. I fell down a mountain," Gidget said.

"If it makes you feel any better, it looked so cool," Sammy said.

I am glad my horrifying death looked cool," Gidget said.

"Rise," the statue said. We stood. I took Sammy's hand, and she took Gidget's.

"Ally Tesla. You possess an indomitable spirit. You shine in the darkness."

"Sammy Voltage. You delight in others' happiness and you give to your utmost."

"Gidget Ford. You freely show your compassion. To place others before yourself is your nature."

The giant paused again, and the Arena was silent. I heard the sound of my own breathing, and I felt the heat of the hands holding mine.

"I pass judgement."

* * *

Gidget Ford- District Three female

"I pass judgement."

A shudder went through me, and I squeezed Ally and Sammy's hands. I closed my eyes, waiting for what would come next. I squeezed harder, and my grip seemed to fade away. I opened my eyes for a last look at the world. To my surprise, I was still whole. Ally and Sammy were glowing, and I could faintly see through them. Their atoms seemed to separate, sparkling as they dispersed. For a second they looked like two golden clouds, and then they were gone.

"Gidget Ford, receive life."

* * *

 **I meant what I said and I said what I meant. I got to the end, 100%. It's nearly midnight the day before I leave for Boot Camp. But I FINISHED THE GAMES. Never have I written so fast. I actually reached my limit. Usually I write easily, but this was hard even for me. That is everything I have. Until the next story, anyway. I won't be able to do all the wrap-up yet, but I can do that when I get back.**

 **3rd place: Sammy Voltage- Disintegrated by Yama**

 **Yama is a god of death. I don't think he's that major, but if someone complains, I can rewrite it. This isn't actual Yama, obviously. It's just a statue of him. I put Sammy as third because the was third in votes (she got 6.5, the .5 being a guest vote). I never thought these three would be the last three. I knew none of them were killers, so I threw in all my chips and went weird. Yama seemed like an appropriately atmospheric ending, and I wanted a big climax and didn't have much time to thing. Sammy was great. She was a good person through and through. She didn't change. Wherever she is, she's still burning bright.**

 **2nd place: Ally Tesla- Disintegrated by Yama**

 **Ally got 8 votes. I don't know the mechanics of disintegration, but it has something to do with the way these particular clone bodies were made. Ally was ahead for a while. The votes shifted a lot, and all three of them were ahead at some point. Ally was also great. I'm so glad she got what she deserved this time (except the dying part) and lasted so much longer. It's so funny how the placings turned out like this. Me having to rush and the exact point where I started rushing changed the votes drastically. I'm pretty sure the final three would have been totally different if I hadn't sped things up so much (I suspect it would have been Shinju, Des, and maybe Floki or Kerry). I'm glad Ally benefited, though.**

 **Victor: Gidget Ford, District Three**

 **I never would have imagined. Not for a minute. I'm really happy for Gidget, but I NEVER would have thought she'd win. So many things needed to come together, and they all did. Gidget is so much more than a mother. It shows up more in her first story, where she had more time. I build all Tributes based on one central characterstic, and hers actually isn't "mother". It's "people person". Gidget is cool, friendly, fun-loving outgoing, silly, and also a mother. I'm super happy for her. She deserves it. I'm also excited because it will be really easy and interesting to write her as a Victor. Three was the last District without a reader-submitted Victor, and now they finally do. I couldn't be happier it's her.**

 **Side note: I was excited about all three of these finalists. If Ally had won, I could have written about how she's still so happy and is a huge contrast to the grumpy Victors. If it had been Sammy, I would have focused on her friendships and how she kept them up. Gidget will probably turn into a very encouraging team mom to the younger Tributes and a friendly helper to the older ones.**

 **So here's my last update for a while. I regret having to rush, but I'm happy with the Victor. I'll do the rest when I get back, and then I can do another SYOT! You can PM reservations if you really want, but I'mma be honest and say I will probably forget who is who and be totally lost when I get back. Honestly you're better off sending them to Silver so she can hold them until I'm ready. I told her and Birk they could carry on our Survivor story without me. Most people are slower than me *cough* so it probably won't be done before I get back, so I can at least write some of it.**

 **I can't say I'm not scared. I know I can do it, but I also know it's going to hurt more than anything I've ever done. If you're a praying reader, pray for me. See you in three months, with a spiffy new uniform. God bless America, and Semper Fidelis.**


	80. Recovery

**GUESS WHO'S BACK FROM BOOT CAMP! Congrats to TheAmazingJAJ, who was apparently creeping on me so closely she got my return date almost exactly right.**

* * *

Gidget Ford- Victor

I didn't know what to think. One second, Ally, Sammy and I were holding hands. The next, I was the Victor. I wasn't even scratched, so they didn't have to do the usual long convalescent process. A hovercraft came down and picked me up and that was it. I got to watch the Arena grow smaller under me as we took off into the air, Allly's kitten squirming in my lap. Of course I had to take the kitten. I couldn't leave it with those crazy monsters.

Even though I was in good shape, the doctors still wanted to check me over. I was dehydrated, of course, and a little malnourished. After setting up an IV and checking my vitals, the doctors mostly left me alone.

 _This is so surreal._ Sterile white machinery was all around me. The air was static, dry and dead, without the sounds of birds and snapping twigs. Everything smelled like chemicals and not vegetation. There were no other Tributes around me, because I was the Victor. _I'm the Victor._ It couldn't be real. Nothing seemed real. It happened too fast and too bizarrely. I felt like it was all some weird interruption and the Games would start back up in a few minutes. I waved my hands in front of my face and poked at the bed underneath me to see if it was actually there. I felt it, but I still didn't believe it.

When the door opened, I fully expected to see a jungle on the other side. Instead, I saw Acee.

"Did you see that? Like, that blue guy and everything?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so," I said. I wasn't even entirely sure I was seeing Acee, so she probably should have asked someone else.

"Good. I thought I might be losing it," Acee said as she sat on the edge of the bed. There was a pregnant pause. "I don't want to be rude, but I did not expect this."

"Me neither," I said. "I don't feel like I really won. More like I got picked."

"Well, they also picked you to die, so it's only fair," Acee said. "Take it and run."

"I'm not even beat up. This is so weird," I said, examining my unscratched hands. More than a hundred children were dead, and I wasn't. The odds were literally one in a hundred, and I was the one that got lucky. I didn't know how to feel. Mostly I just felt tired and relieved.

Acee shook her head. "I've seen a lot of weird stuff in the Capitol, but _this_ is _weird._ But that's life. Oh by the way, you have some visitors."

For such a genius, Acee wasn't always very smart. The second I saw one tall and two short figures in the doorway, every muscle in my body sprang to life. I surged forward straight over the foot of the bed, knocking Acee onto her butt on the floor as I ran across the room.

My beautiful son still looked just like me. He was just older- so much older. I cried into his hair as I clutched him and my little girl, with Connex bending over us. She was stiff in my arms, and she looked at me with wide, confused eyes. She didn't even know me, but now she would get to. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, and I never had to look away again.

* * *

 **Usually I'd combine this with the coronation since it's short, but I wanted to get this up quick so everyone knew I was back. You're looking at Private First Class Cordelia Stuart. I got back from Parris Island five days ago and I'm still tired and hungry. Since I got Recruiter's Assistance, I'll be here for a month before I leave for Marine Combat Training, which takes 29 days. I'll be able to finish this story before I go, and after that I'll work on one-shots and other stories, since a month isn't long enough for an SYOT and all the RA stuff I'll be doing. I'll work on preparing the Survivor collab, though. Silver's been keeping things up for me and I DO want to finish it. After MCT I'll go to more school, but it's more like college, so I'll be able to write.**

 **Anyway, boot camp was awesome! It was way easier than I expected and I had a ton of fun. I was sad it was over. But at least now I can finally finish this! I took almost as long as a normal fanfic writer :p**


	81. Crowning

**My good old five-year-old laptop finally gave up the ghost. I had to wait until my parents went to bed and use my dad's even older desktop. I can't get to my files until we fix it, so some details or dates pertaining to Gidget might not line up just right. I also forgot what her daughter was named XD**

* * *

Gidget Ford- Victor

It is a truth well-known in Panem that stylists cannot conceive of any individual having more than one attribute. Beetee was the "tech" Victor, Wiress was the "weird" one, and I was the mom. That was how I ended up in one of the less ludicrous Victor outfits. They wanted to go with mom jeans and a stained shirt at first, but I convinced them that mothers in Three wore bouncy dresses and heels when keeping house, since I saw a bouncy dress and heels that I liked. Wouldn't you know it, that was _exactly_ the thing a genuine Three mother would wear. I didn't care about makeup, so I told them Three mothers were too busy for those things and they managed to restrain themselves to an almost natural look. Except the purple lipstick, but you can't win them all.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but are you surprised with how things turned out?" Caesar asked when the interview started.

"Don't get me wrong... yeah, I did not see that coming," I said. "That was weird. I feel like I didn't win so much as I got picked."

" _I_ think they made the right choice," Caesar said. "Are you happy to be back?"

"This is a little better than the Arena," I said. "My allies were great, but I'm so happy the Capitol gave me my children back." I teared up suddenly at the end of the sentence and chided myself. _Ugh, suck-up much? What are you crying about? That was so cheesy._ The gratitude towards the Capitol might have been faked, but thinking about my family set me off all over again.

The interview was shorter than normal, since the recap was so long. After the Bloodbath, the condensed deaths blurred together. I'd seen a lot of death in my day. Heck, I'd seen my _own_ death. Nothing to get excited about. The only time I had to turn away and wipe my eyes was the final three.

After all the build-up, it was almost a letdown to see President Snow. I was all ready to see a child-snatching boogeyman up close, but he just looked like a normal guy.

I was more interested in the crown on the pillow. It had a gold base and was dotted with a seemingly random mishmash of jewels in a crazy rainbow of color. Even by Capitol standards, it was ugly

"Your children took great care designing this," President Snow said as he crowned me.

 _So that's why it looks like a six-year-old made it._ I was wrong, though. It wasn't ugly. It was the most beautiful crown in the world.

When the three Three mentors explained the initiation process, I knew right away what I wanted to do.

"I want to have a birthday party."

The other Tributes always assumed I was going to be responsible and mature. I could be those things when I had to be, but I also liked to have a good time. I liked friends, games, loud music, and lots of cake.

"It's your birthday? That's convenient," Rhoda said as she painted Max's face with a lion design.

"I have, like, ten birthdays to make up for," I said. I might have been dead, but I was about to make up for it.

"I thought it was _my_ birthday party," Max protested.

"It's both of ours," I said. Really, the party had three layers. On one layer, it was for all my missed birthdays. On the second, more important layer, it was for all my children's birthdays that I missed. On the last level, the one I didn't tell the kids, it was for the dozens upon dozens of children I was with, the ones who would never have another birthday. That was why the cake had only a single white candle, and why I hadn't been able to eat any.

"Mom, why do you look sad?" Max asked, his adorable lion mouth turning downward.

"It's nothing," I said. "Just my face, I guess."

There was a lot to be sad about, but a lot more to be happy about. I looked around the room and saw Mars lifting my daughter so she could hit a pinata, Lancia creaming everyone at some sort of stretching-based game played with lights on the floor, Bambi's dog wearing a party hat, and Careen pulling the string on a confetti popper. Everyone was having a great time. There were a lot of things to be sad about, but they were behind me. I had a second chance at life, and I was going to live it.

* * *

 **Just one more chapter and I'll finally be done! In about a week I leave for MCT, but that's not as insulated as boot camp. I doubt I'll be able to write, but at least it's only a month.**

 **Housekeeping notes: I'll be doing a normal SYOT after this, but it won't start until I'm back from MCT. There's not much point sending things now, but if we already had plans for spots or whatever, I have Silver acting as my manager, so she has them.**


	82. Epilogue

Gidget Ford- Victor

Most non-Career Victors looked super awkward and nervous during their tours. A lot of the Tributes this time were so old barely anyone remembered them, and they'd all died at least once already, so the pain wasn't as fresh. Plus, I didn't kill anyone, so no one was that mad at me. I actually had a ton of fun seeing the rest of Panem.

One, Two, and Four were the least welcoming. To be honest, I wasn't that happy to see them either. They were mad at me for outliving their Tributes, and I was a little sore at their Tributes for trying to kill me. I did find out that Two is super pretty, though. I loved all the cliffs and quarries.

District Five was hard. I wanted to give a big speech about how much I missed Sammy and Ally, but I couldn't do it. I didn't want my children to get scared seeing their mother cry. I gave the neat little prepared speech and tried to answer their families' questions as best as I could. I watched Five get smaller in the back window of the train until there was nothing left. I hoped it was a nice place to live.

I didn't know what to think when I got to Nine. I wouldn't have made it to the end if it wasn't for Jeanie, but I also never would have done the things she talked me into. I didn't kill Shinju, but I was part of her death, and I would always live with that. But in the end, Jeanie died helping me. Of all people, I should know it's your present that matters, not the past. None of us is perfect, and sometimes some people can only stay pure because other people are willing to do the dirty things.

It was surreal to see Three again. So much time had gone by, it was almost as advanced as the Capitol had been the first time I went. I didn't recognize almost anyone, and the train station was nothing like I remembered. Still, it was home.

* * *

Some Victors want to use their position to make big changes, like Lancia. Others throw themselves into the Games or their talents. Some get eaten up by the Capitol until they're deader than the ones back in the Arena. I was just happy to live a nice, happy life with my husband and kids. We moved into the Victor's Village and it amused me how boring we were compared to the other residents. Other than the kids' much-anticipated visits from Crazy Aunt Acee, we mostly did normal people stuff. I threw a lot of parties, but they were normal parties that didn't involve mountains or crazy giant blue guys. I'd had enough crazy giant blue guys for the rest of my life.

I had a lot better time adjusting than most Victors. A little of it was because I didn't have as much to regret as some of us, but mostly it was because I had my whole family to support me. Connex was there to make me feel safe when I woke up in the night. He talked about the Games when I brought them up and left them behind us when we didn't. When I thought of all the lives cut short by the Games, I looked at my children and remembered two more lives that were just starting. Thanks to the Games, we didn't have to worry about money ever again, and my children could have a better life. I worried about them going into the Arena, but there was nothing I could do about that, and there were some things I tried not to think about. Life will never be perfect, but I had a lot to be happy about.

* * *

 **I snuck this in while my parents were napping. Gidget is a lot more normal than a lot of Tributes, so she had a more normal epilogue. I'm glad she's happy, but then, she's usually happy. Pretty much nothing in this story ended up the way I thought, but it worked out in the end. Resurrection Games are always crazy, and this one got even crazier than most (still not as crazy as Survivor tho)**

 **REMINDER: I'll be doing more SYOTs, but not until I get back from MCT in about a month. I leave in five days, and until then I'll work on Victor and Tribute one-shots and the wiki. Stay cool and I look forward to getting back to writing full-time!**


End file.
